The Catalyst: Story of Sam
by Tay1019411
Summary: "It wasn't what I expected. Ghosts were supposed to be cold and gross; they were dead. But, he, his kiss, felt...warm." real summary inside more to it than this, Sam's point of view
1. Gravity

**Real Summary: All the humans view all ghosts as evil and a burden to the living world. Sam is a proud girl, who is not ashamed of her unusualness. When she comes across a strange ghost, Phantom, who happens to save her life she begins to wonder if all ghosts are truly evil or is it just this ghost. She begins to have feelings for Phantom, but altogether it's illegal for human and ghost interactions, putting both Phantom and Sam in danger. She knows Phantom is hiding something, something that would change the humans' view of ghosts forever.**

**Ghost were evil, cold, gross, and dead. They were creatures who caused only death and destruction. And, they were hell-bent on taking over the human world. Most importantly, any contact with ghost was forbidden, the only contact permitted was hunting them; but that rule was about to be broken when Sam is saved by a strange ghost named Phantom, who doesn't fit anything of what she learned about ghosts. Everything is about to change.**

**A/N: Okay, let me explain before we begin. I am mainly inspired to write by songs so that is why every chapter's name will be the song that inspired the chapter. I though it would be kinda cool to see what goes on in my head when writing, oh and even the Title of the story is a song: The Catalyst by Linkin Park. Also, this story is different; it's going to have language and be more graphic because I wanted to make it more realistic and darker. But, it is not depressing, and it's not mainly a love story (because I suck at romance). So, hope you enjoy; I put a lot of work into this. Another note-I'm thinking about doing a companion story to this in Danny's point of view; but I have to wait a bit because it would ruin certain surprises in this story. And, see if people actually like the story...**

* * *

The Catalyst

_Story of Sam_

You know, I have never given much thought to heroes. The patriotic naive dreamers who ran around in tights, believing they could actually change the world...Then, Danny came...

**Chapter 1: Gravity**

"Okay, if a ghost were to attack you, but it is obviously weaker. It is not as dangerous as the other ghosts. True or False?"

I looked at Tucker, sitting across from me on his bedroom floor, which I was currently sprawled out on. I sighed before giving my answer in a monotoned voice, "False, all ghosts are evil, so all ghosts are dangerous."

I rolled to my side, glaring at the study-guide Tuck was holding. "This is so stupid."

He looked up at me, a smile playing on his lips. "You are saying that now."

"What do you mean I'm saying that now? This class is useless. We both know that Ghost Education 101 is a complete waste of time."

"They are dangerous; I think it would be good to learn about the creatures that are trying to kill us."

"They can't all be that bad," I muttered, crossing my arms grudgingly.

Tucker gave me one of his looks, telling me I was being difficult...again.

I rolled my eyes, staring at the ceiling from my position on the floor.

"This is important, Sam. What if you were attacked by a ghost? Then, what would you do?"

I looked at him evenly. "Tuck, everybody gets attacked by ghosts," I said matter-of-factly, "and especially in Amity."

"Ya, but not everybody survives," he countered, matching my tone.

I fell quiet, thinking of the latest reports of the missing and deaths. But, fortunately, there had seemed to be less of them now-a-days.

Tucker seemed to be thinking the same thing. "You know, the Fentons must be doing something right," he said, breaking the momentary silence between us. His voice reflecting optimism.

"According to the news, there have been less attacks in the last two years, and less ghosts showing up in the least year."

I looked at him incredulously; I didn't really pay much attention to the news and weekly ghost stats, not as much as Tucker. But, that's how our friendship worked; we covered each other, each taking up the part the other doesn't do. "Really, you think they are starting to take the Fentons seriously?"

Jack and Maddie Fenton were world known ghost-hunters, actually the best. Although they were extremely eccentric, they were still efficient, even Jack Fenton proved to be a big help to Amity's extreme ghost problem. They were called to go to various places throughout the world to help with the ghost hunting and equip the nations so they could fight properly against the paranormal, but they never left Amity for a long period of time.

"Ya, lucky for us the Fentons lived here before the ghosts started to attack all over the world. Amity has them to help most of the time."

"You know that's not the only reason," I said skeptically. "Amity is the number one haunt spot in the world, so of course they are here. The ghosts are here most of the time despite the fact that every country is being attacked."

Tucker shook his head, sarcastically saying, "And the fact that it's their hometown has nothing to do with it."

"Naturally."

"It could also have something to do with them losing their son here too, you know," he mentioned quietly.

I looked at his solemn expression. Even though it was four years ago, everybody in Amity was still hesitant to speak about the death of the youngest member of the Fenton family, preferring to either tip-toe around the subject or not mention it at all. Daniel Fenton, age 13: Lab accident having something to do with ghosts, Cause of Death: electrocution, died in the hospital.

That was all we knew, and even though it was a small piece of information, it was the talk of the town for months. After that, the Fentons became more restless, more driven to take care of the ghost problem once and for all.

I was silent for a second, thinking about the Fenton boy, trying to picture his face; but I came up with a blank. I couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for both him and the Fentons. "Maybe that has something to do with it too."

Tucker smiled, a sort of remorse in his eyes, that of which any citizen of Amity had when talking about the lost Fenton. He glanced at the clock sitting on his nightstand, his eyes slightly bugging out. One of his dark hands flew up to his red berret, gripping it in a distraught way. "It's 9:45; you better go. The ghosts normally come out around ten."

I heard a hint of panic in his voice. I rolled my eyes; he could be such a worry-wart sometimes.

"Sam, you're my best friend," he said, seeing "the look" I was giving him. "I just don't want anything to happen to you."

"Nothing's gonna happen."

"Just humor me, please," he begged. "Besides, my parents will be coming any minutes to send you home."

"Fine," I exhaled, giving in. I gathered my books, shoving them into my spider book-bag before standing.

He walked me to the front door, opening it for me as I walked through.

I half turned to him while walking down the steps, "See ya later, Tuck."

"Bye, Sam, be careful."

"Okay," I said, offhandedly, already reaching the sidewalk.

I swear Tucker really needs to stop worrying so much. I kicked a pebble in front of me as I walked. The ghosts problem has been around since I remember; it wasn't really something that scared me because it became normal. Everybody still freaks out about ghost attacks; and political figures have taken precautions such as a curfew, mandatory ghost education class for all students, and squads of ghost hunters stationed throughout the world-trained by the Fentons. Ghosts attacking all over the world has been around since I was five, and there really hasn't been any changes.

Why they were attacking, one might ask. Well, we all wonder why. Why would they want the living world when they had a world of their own, the Ghost Zone? It didn't make any sense, but the scientists and hunters didn't dwell on it, thinking it was a mere territory thing. An invasion or something.

This has been life for the last fourteen years, but lately, all of us-even the ones who don't pay attention to the new...me-have been noticing a certain lull in ghost activity. Ever since the beginning of last year, everybody in Amity has been feeling as if a sort of weight as been lifted; nobody was nearly as jumpy or constantly looking over their shoulder, expecting the next ghost attack to hit. No, instead, there has been a form of placidness that came over the citizens of Amity.

A blast of wind brought me out of my thoughts. I stopped, bringing my hands up to cover my exposed arms. I couldn't stop the shiver racking through me. I looked around to see nothing but empty streets, nothing in sight. The wind seemed to come out of nowhere.

I started walking, but a bit faster. A bad feeling was creeping within me. My eyes darted from building to building, becoming more alert.

"Why so scared?"

I stopped cold, feeling a frigid hand on my shoulder. The voice sounded liking it was right next to my ear. I looked to the side slowly, seeing a hand materializing right in front of me.

I stared as the rest of the ghost became visible, revealing an ugly green face with a toothy smile to match. His putrid face was bubbling with green ectoplasm as he loomed over me, his blood-colored eyes shining with malice.

"Stay away from me," I said, jerking my arm away from him, I turned the other way to run, but another ghost materialized in front of me, looking just as gruesome as the other one. If I wasn't in mortal danger right now, I would puke from the sight of it, or maybe I'm feel like I'm going to puke because of the mortal danger part. It's a toss up.

I stumble away from both of them, making sure they were in front of me, in my line of view.

"Ooh, feisty one," it said.

"But she's not screaming," the other one said, inching closer to me; it sounded disappointed. I couldn't help but notice the bubbling ectoplasm on its face making a loud crackling sound, sounding as if it was hot magma.

"Well, let's start making her."

They started advancing towards me; I backed away from both of them until I felt a wall pressing in my back. Of course.

I flattened my back against it, trying to get as far away from them as possible. This is really going to be it. Yah, you'd think I was crazy if I said I wasn't scared. I was scared as shit although something in me just wouldn't allow me to show it.

Hey, call me suicidal. I narrowed my eyes and clenched my fists. If I was going to go down, I wasn't going to do it without a fight.

"Whoa, guys! There are better ways to get a date," a different voice exclaimed from out of nowhere. It had a hint of an echo in it, accompanied with a sarcastic edge.

I barely had time to look for where it came from when I saw a white boot stomp on the ghost's, closest to me, face; the ghost happened to be looking up at the boy who was currently using his face as a doormat.

I looked at the boy, surprised to see that he looked around seventeen-my age. That's not all I noticed, he looked pretty hot...although compared to these other ghosts even Lester would look like an Adonis.

The ghost boy's body, encased in a soft white aura, was lean and tight, every part of him was poised like he was fully aware of himself. Even when standing still, he had a graceful presence, looking more like a prowling predator than a ghost.

His chest was defined, bearing a weird symbol of a P inside a D. I managed to look at his face. Pure white locks covered fragments of his brilliant emerald eyes. His eyes burned with an intensity I've never seen before. I couldn't help but stare at them a bit longer before moving on to the rest of him. The shadows of the night played with his high cheekbones and the interesting angles of his face. His smile was crooked and breathtaking. He was beautiful, not in that pretty boy way, but an interesting, unusual, and...dangerous way.

He looked over towards me, smiling; then turned his attention towards the ghost once more.

He crouched down giving the ghost a smile, looking completely comfortable standing on somebody's head. "I really don't think stalking and maiming are the best ways, man."

In a move that was too fast for me to see, he was suddenly off the ghost delivering a strong round-house kick, sending the ghost into the wall. The ghost made a sizable dent.

The ghost boy landed on the ground, cocking his head to the side, looking at his handiwork. The smile was still on his lips.

With an angry roar, the other ghost lunged at him from behind; but the boy easily side-stepped him with a smirk. "You know you could always go the whole flowers and chocolates route."

He ducked under the ghost's swinging fists effortlessly, moving fluetly. "But, then again, with the way you look," he said, feigning disgust while blocking another hit, "I think you should just not even try."

He delivered his own blow, sending the ghost into the wall right next to his partner. "And your wingman sucks by the way," the boy said cheekily.

The ghosts tore at the rubble around him, freeing himself. He looked heatedly at the ghost-boy before looking back at me.

All I saw was a huge green mass lunging for me, arms spread out, claws extending. Shit, I didn't even know it had claws! I was too frozen to move. I could only look over at the boy to see him moving towards me too.

I gasped as he took me in his arms, and I felt like I was gliding, pushing away from the ghosts. I looked at the green-eyed ghost to see his young face full of light; there was a certain elation wrapped around him. His eyes were glowing a bright green, his pupils large, as he smiled tenderly at me. For a second, I forgot where I was. "Sorry," he breathed out, his smile growing as he looked into my eyes. "I'm new at this."

"New at what?" I exclaimed, not really understanding if he was my savior or was just taking me for himself. It would be my luck to get away from the bad ghosts only to be in the same situation as I was before.

"Saving beautiful girls," he said, not seeming to notice how his words brought a slight blush to my cheeks. It seemed he was just speaking his mind, not really monitoring what came out like most people did. "I mean I usually save people from behind the scenes, you know, all the time, but this is really the first time I came into direct contact with anyone, so congrats! You're my first damsel..." he babbled on as if it was a usual thing to talk to humans, especially with two evil ghosts coming after him from behind.

I ignored the damsel comment, promising myself that I would later hit him for that when we weren't so busy. I looked behind us to see the ghosts looming towards us, but unfortunately, I seemed to be the only one paying attention to this.

"Uh..." I interrupted the ghost's long winded babble, coming up short when I didn't know what to call him.

"Ya?" he said, quirking an eyebrow. How can he be so oblivious? Hello, vicious looking specters coming after us!

"You might want to pay attention to the freaking ghosts coming after us!" I exclaimed right as the ghosts lunged at us. I flinched back.

The ghost boy simply turned his head towards the oncoming attack as a huge green shield covered us right as the ghosts were about to make contact. They hit the shield with a big thwack, resembling how two squished bugs on a windshield looked.

I couldn't help but laugh at their expressions as they slid down the shield. I heard the boy's laughter meld with mine. I looked at him to see that he found their expressions just as funny as I did.

He put me down gently on the ground, making sure I found my footing before he let go. I had to say, I was a bit disappointed to feel the absence of his hands from my waist.

He was only hovering a couple inches from the ground himself as he smiled down at me. There was no cruelty or maliciousness in his eyes like what they told us all ghosts had, just an exhilaration in them mixed with bright amusement.

"Wait right here," he smiled, his voice resembling an excited kid about to do a trick.

The shield went down suddenly as he zoomed towards the ghosts with a speed that was breathtaking. He gracefully arched his body during his flight, swooping down and grab both the goons.

He threw them up into the air, delivering quick and powerful blows to each. They dropped like two stones, looking dazed, reaching the ground with a loud thud.

The boy dropped to the ground with his arms crossed in front of his chest, his impact with the cement only making a small tap. He grinned, looking down at the two ghosts; he took out a thermos-or at least it looked like a thermos-and aimed it at them. A swirling blue vortex erupted from the object, sucking up both the ghosts in the process. Okay...maybe not a thermos.

Putting the cap back on, he looked up at me, his smile still planted on his face.

I held my breath as he walked over towards me; I couldn't help but notice how graceful he looked, like something that was otherworldly. Well, I guess he was otherworldly, considering he was a ghost.

"Are you okay?" he said, looking down. He was taller than me, even when not hovering, maybe about six feet or a little more. I was a little put off with seeing him on the ground, usually ghosts tended to levitate or fly. In fact, this was the first time ever that I've seen a ghost's feet planted on the ground. It seemed this ghost was strange in more ways than one.

"Ya," I said, realizing I was taking too long to answer his question, "I'm fine."

The ghost let out a sigh of relief, looking like he was holding his breath until my answer, "Good, I thought you were having a panic attack or something."

I scowled at him, "I'm not that fragile, you know."

He put his hands behind his head, sizing me up with his striking eyes. I could see his lean muscles tighten through the skin tight fabric he was wearing; for a second, I wondered why he was wearing a hazmat suit-not that I'm complaining. "Ya, you don't look like the fragile type."

I blushed scarlet, squirming a bit under his gaze. I had to admit his honesty was kinda refreshing in an embarrassing sort of way.

He put out his hand towards me, smiling as he did. "Come on, I'll take you home."

I crossed my arms, looking at him levelly. "I can take myself home, thank you very much."

His smile only grew wider, unaffected by my retort. "Well, that would be inconvenient. After going through all of this hard work to keep you safe, do you think I'm just going to leave you here so you can get picked up by another ghost again?"

"I doubt it would happen again." For heaven's sake, I'm not that accident-proned.

"No, it won't because you will be with me."

I tried to come up with something snappy to say back to him but fell short. This usually doesn't happen to me, but I guess this is maybe a side effect from almost being killed. I just sighed, finally giving in; I took his hand.

He drew me in closer; I could feel the muscles in his arms constricting and flexing, holding me tight, making me blush even more. Oh boy.

I gasped as we were suddenly extended in mid-air; the weightlessness I was feeling gave me a clue we were flying. I looked down to see the tops of the roofs passing by; I unconsciously gripped his arms tighter, indadvertedly feeling how hard his muscles were-and they were rock hard might I add. I couldn't help the flutter in my stomach from this.

"So, where do you live?" His voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Three blocks ahead, the huge mansion on the corner," I said grudgingly, not liking the word mansion one bit.

He grinned down at me, from where I was, he looked like an angel, with his soft white hair dancing around his face, and the night sky as his only background. "Who...who are you?" I uttered, wanting to know if I've ever heard of him before. But, I doubted it; usually friendly ghosts don't make the news...Well, I really wouldn't know since I don't waste my time watching those dim-wads.

His smiled faltered, but it came back quickly. "I'm Danny Phantom."

Huh, never really knew ghosts had first names and last names. Or maybe, that's another thing different about him. "Danny," I considered, sizing him up over-exaggeratedly. "I like it."

He chuckled, "I'm glad you approve."

"Well, that's all that matters, isn't it?"

"Apparently," he said, grinning cockily at me. "So, since you know my name, do I have the honor of knowing your's?"

"My name's Sam. Sam Manson."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Sam, Sam Manson."

We grinned at each other.

He looked so...normal; I wouldn't guess he was a ghost. Well, the aura and flying might have clued me in, but the way he was. Ghosts were evil; all they wanted to do was take over the human world. That was what we were taught; that was what all of us experienced. Hell, two minutes ago I was about to be killed by ghosts. What made him so different?

"Why did you do it?" I blurted, clamping my mouth shut after making the mistake. Great, Manson, insult the guy who just saved your behind.

He quirked one of his eyebrows at me. "Ya gonna have to be a little more specific then that; I do a lot of things."

"Why did you save me back there?...You're a ghost?" The last statement came out more as a question.

He smiled, shrugging. "So. Did you want me to leave you instead? You don't come across as the suicidal type to me. If you want, I could leave you in a nice, creepy alley of your choosing so you can continue further self destruction."

Amusement was clearly in his eyes; I realized he was playing with me, not being serious at all.

I glared at him, knowing he was doing this just to avoid the question. "You know what I mean."

Danny looked to the side unconsciously. I realized that was the first time he broke eye contact with me during the whole flight. I could feel a sort of unwanted relief when freed from his gaze.

He stared at the city below us, his gaze intensifying on random spots for no reason.

He sighed, looking back at me. I wasn't planning on relinquishing my death stare anytime soon. "What would you expect me to do? Let you die?"

I could have sworn I heard his voice falter at that last part.

"Other ghosts would have, or even joined in," I said, catching that he winced when I said other ghosts. "You're different, aren't you?"

"Not exactly," he paused, a calculating expression forming on his face. "I don't really agree with what they do."

"So you fight them instead," I said remembering what he said during the fight about usually working from behind the scenes...saving people.

"Yep, pretty much." He shrugged.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Danny Phantom: the friendly ghost."

Danny rolled his eyes, but the smile remained on his face. "Let's not get too carried away."

"Why not? It fits."

"Where's that alley?..." he commented, making a show of searching the city below.

I couldn't help but laugh, maybe the elation of either escaping death or flying was getting to me or something.

His eyes left mine momentarily, than returned. He sighed. "Well, looks like we're here."

I looked over my shoulder. It looked like all the lights were out, meaning my parents were asleep. Good. I looked back at him. "My room's right there," I said, pointing at one of the many windows of the mansion. "Can you sneak me in? The last thing I want is my parents to wake up."

They were just as strict about curfew as Tucker's parents, and I wasn't in the mood for a lecture or for one of my mom's overdramatic freak-outs.

"Yes, Mam," he said mockingly, but there was enough playfulness in his tone that I didn't get offended.

He flew us to the window; I leaned a bit away from him to open it. I always kept it unlocked for times that I wanted an easy escape besides nobody in Amity was really worried about people who would be deterred by a locked window.

We hovered into my room; he set me down gently, gripping my waist as he did.

I turned around to see him leaving, already perched on the windowsill to take off. Wow, he was fast. I was beginning to feel already alone with the idea of his absence.

I saw his body brace, tensing, to lift off the ledge.

"Wait." I rushed to the windowsill where he started to step out.

His back went rigid as he turned to look at me, a befuddled expression on his face.

"Yes? Are you okay?" his expression was odd, it looked as if he was worried and confused. His eyes never left mine; I could feel that they were searching for something.

"Of course I'm fine," I said, hoping that was the answer he was looking for, but his expression became even more confused. I continued on, asking what was previously in my mind before he spoke, "When will I see you again?"

For some reason, I just felt drawn to him. I wanted to see him again, maybe talk to him. He was so different, and although I usually am attracted to different, there was another reason why I wanted to see him, something deeper than the mere interest I have for the unique.

He gaped at me, looking confused, "Wait, you're not...scared?"

"Why would I be?" I asked, giving him a look.

He smirked, "You really are different, Sam Manson."

Gripping the side of the window, he lowered his body towards me until he was eye-leveled. He looked playfully into my eyes, then craned his neck, delivering a small peck on my cheek.

I let out a gasp of surprise before smiling. I looked up to find that he was gone. My smile grew wider as I touched my cheek.

It wasn't what I expected. Ghosts were supposed to be cold and gross; they were dead. But, he, his kiss, felt...warm.

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**A/N: I left something out on the top. The characters are a bit different, mainly Danny because certain things happened in their life that made them who they were, but their core traits are still there such as Danny being clueless, heroic, and feeling responsible for others. Sam is still high strong, a goth-well, then again I didn't change her as much as I thought (I'm not making her love sick, but she does notice and likes Danny because that's how it is in the show, but she has a mind of her own). But, anyway, Danny is still the same guy, just a bit different because he did grow up without his family (obviously) so in turn that makes him a bit more reckless and altered (but not too much). And they are seventeen after all so that called for some changes.**

**The song/chapter title: Gravity by Sarah Bareilles**


	2. Get Up

**Chapter 2: Get Up**

A couple days passed since the incident.

I took in a deep breath, rolling over on my back so that I was staring at the plain white ceiling above me. I burrowed deeper into the covers, trying to keep my mind blank, but I couldn't help but replay the attack over in my head. I felt the phantom feelings rise up again: the fear when I first encountered the ghosts and the conviction that I was going to die. But, I also felt the relief, the awe when I first saw Phantom. When he took hold of me...

I glared at the ceiling, part of me wondering why it was even white in the first place since the rest of my room was dark, earthy colors.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not one of those girls who were just going to fall over some guy just because he had a handsome face and muscles. No. That's just not how I'm programmed, and I refuse to conform to the dominant population of girls like that.

But...There was more to this guy. I just felt drawn to him, like a magnet. Maybe it's because I always had a flare for the unique and unexplained, which he definitely fell into that category, no doubt; or maybe it had to do with that fact that he saved my life and just left before I could really talk to him or wonder whether or he was going to take me to his lair or whatever ghosts normally did. Or maybe...just maybe I was starting to have actual feelings for him, but that, I still couldn't admit to myself, let alone make it a factor.

Either way, I was stuck. My thoughts revolved around the mystery that was Danny Phantom, and I could not just drop it like I did with everything else. He was branded in my mind, every part of him.

I had to know more.

I sighed, glaring at my sheets, "Sam Manson, you are turning into such a stalker."

I got out of bed and went to the computer stationed on my desk. It didn't take long to boot up; I was already searching in less than ten minutes.

"Okay," I said to myself, I clicked on the internet, going to the search engine, "Let's see what Amity's ghost files have say about you."

I typed in the address, wondering all the while if Amity even knew he was out there, let alone had information on him if so.

I scrolled down, scanning for the D's. My eyes widened when I saw his name: Danny Phantom.

It was strange seeing his name there; it seemed to make him even more real.

I clicked on the link. A fuzzy picture of him popped up, not a very good caption. It looked like he was in mid flight, but I couldn't really tell. Looks like the press had a hard time even trying to get him on camera, which was understandable. He seemed to be the type that didn't really like to be in the public's eye.

I looked down at the stats; there was barely any information on there compared to the other ghosts.

_Danny Phantom_

_Hair: White_

_Eyes: Green_

_Age: Unknown. Appeared three years ago. In the form of a teenager. Note: form is changing, resembling growing patterns of a regular human._

_Powers: Standard, but rest is yet to be identified._

_Power Level: Changing, Unknown_

_Stability: Unknown_

_Threat Level: High, when in sight, get to the nearest safe spot and notify the G.I.W. station nearest to you or the Fentons' direct line_

_Obsession: Unknown_

_Lair: Unknown_

_Sightings: Frequently, only when engaging other ghosts_

_If seen call (800) 906-2499 (Fentons)_

_(800) 672-5243 (G.W.I., local Amity)_

_Please, notify Fentons first then proceed with the second number listed._

I read over it a couple times, making sure I wasn't missing anything. Well, that really didn't help. All it told me was how to contact somebody if I were to see him.

I looked at the Fentons' phone number listed. Their direct line, actually, which was a bit of a surprise because they normally let the G.W.I. take care of the calls, and they just get wired in if it's something the station can't handle. Danny must really have them worried for them to be giving out their number at the smallest mention of him.

Then again, after seeing what he could do that night, I could understand.

I went on youtube, then, seeing if the Fentons ever talked about him in an interview. They did this a lot, mostly to just calm the public down and keep them clued in. It would either be about a certain ghost or questions brought up from the citizens.

I typed _Fentons' interview: Danny Phantom._

Immediately, something came up. It was an interview in the town's square from 2009, almost three years ago-when he first appeared, according to the Ghost Files. I tried looking for a more recent one but couldn't find any. Settling with this one, I clicked on the clip, hoping that this would give me more than the Ghost Files did.

The video started, showing both Mr. and Mrs. Fenton stationed in front of the camera. They both wore grim expressions, obviously not too happy.

_"So do you know anything more about this mystery ghost?" an unseen voice asked, shoving the microphone closer to the ghost-hunters._

_"All we've gathered from the interrogation is that this ghost goes by the name Danny Phantom," Maddie said, speaking directly at the camera. "This ghost is different. His power levels have increased in the last three months since we've encountered him, but that is as much as we know."_

_"Even thought he hasn't shown any signs of hostile behavior," Jack said, his voice steely, his expression serious, which seemed out of place on the man, "we have to remember he is still a ghost. And, not knowing much about him makes it so we have to become even more cautious when dealing with him."_

_"We are going to study him further...If we can," Maddie interjected. "But, he is not seen in public or even in the human world unless he is fighting a ghost, which makes it difficult because during that time we are fighting the ghosts as well. We will gather as much as we can, and let you know our findings."_

That finalized it; the Fentons left the scene and the camera's view despite the protests of whoever was interviewing them.

I tried typing in his name in the search box, hoping some other videos would come up.

I clicked on the most recent one I found, which took place sometime this year.

The video started playing, showing two people stationed at podiums, glaring at one another. It was clearly a debate. One was a woman and the other was a man. The woman had auburn hair pulled back, loose strands outlined her strong face. She was dressed in a typical suit while the other man-I stopped the video, pausing on his face. I almost fell off the chair in shock. His features became more clear, his blond hair and cold blue eyes recognizable. He was my father.

After taking a moment to process this, I clicked the play button again, all the while having a bad knowing feeling of what side my dad was on. I wasn't no stranger to the daily tirades at the dinner table about how all ghosts were "abominations and deserved to be exterminated like the pests they were."

A huge crowd of people was around the stage; one half was rooting for the woman while the other was cheering for my dad.

They finally silenced when the woman began to speak.

_She looked evenly at the people before looking at the camera, fixing her deep brown eyes on it. "People of Amity. People of the world. We are playing a dangerous game. We are committing genocide. The spirit that is Danny Phantom has never caused any harm to us, and yet, we hunt him down. We put him on the top of every want list, and what for? To destroy him? To commit vile acts of nature by torturing him, experimenting on him? And, what for? Why do we do this?"_

_She took a second to stare at each section of the large crowd, demanding their utmost attention. "I will tell you why. Because we have grown to fear all ghosts. Even the ones who remain in the Ghost Zone in parts that are still unknown to us to this day. We fear him because his intentions are not clear and most of him is a mystery._

_"Well, I can tell you one thing. He is not fighting us. He is not rampaging the city, trying to destroy and take over. No, he is doing the opposite. He is saving Amity."_

_She took a second to let this sink in. A few protests from the other half started to begin, but they were silenced instantly by the woman's steely gaze. "I was saved by Danny Phantom. And, I was not alone; many people standing with you were saved as well on different accounts. He shielded some from crumbling buildings, falling debris, and many times from the ghosts doing the attacking. In my case, he stopped a burning car from crashing into my daughter and me. I owe my life and my daughter's to Danny Phantom. So why can't we give him his life too?"_

_Half the crowd began to cheer while the other side protested and booed in response._

_My father smiled at the crowd, raising his hands, gesturing for them to settle down. He looked over towards the woman, a mocking gleam in his eyes. "A beautiful speech by a beautiful bleeding heart."_

_The woman glared at him, but he ignored her, turning his attention to the camera and crowd. "What my opponent fails to inform us are the facts about this ghost, Danny Phantom," he sneered when he uttered his name. "Everything about this ghost screams danger. His power levels keep increasing despite the fact that no ghosts really ever gain or lose power the way he does. He is constantly improving. And, the fact that we don't know anything about him, including his obsession, makes it even more of a pressing matter that we have him in custody with us once and for all._

_"As for the matter of the many accounts stated. He didn't do it to save your lives. It was just convenient for him, maybe he thought this would buy him more time so he wouldn't become a priority of the government to capture and contain. Ask yourselves this, did he ever make direct contact with you? Save your lives directly? No, because those prior incidents were merely mistakes or clever ways to trick us. This ghost proves to be different from the others. Along with his striking, _**_growing_**_ power, he is clever as well. He manages to elude every tracking devise we use on him despite the fact that it is programed to detect his ecto energy levels. Danny Phantom is a danger and a threat, not a savior. That is why I am giving my full support to organizations who's main goal is to contain and capture Danny Phantom once and for all."_

_The crowd favoring my dad went into an uproar, clapping, cheering, raising signs in the air._

I stared at the video as it ended, leaving me with more questions than answers. Hell, I knew more than these people despite the fact that I never paid any attention to this crud. Looks like Amity was more aware of Danny than I thought; but they still didn't know anything.

I narrowed my eyes in irritation. It seemed like the internet wasn't going to tell me anymore about him.

I scanned the other videos listing; then, took a second to just check the time. 11:30.

My eyes widened, crap.

I spun out of my chair, practically flying to my closet to hurriedly put on something decent. I was already late to meet Tucker at the Nasty Burger.

I went back to my computer, deleting the history and turning it off-don't want my anti-Phantom father seeing this. That would not be good...at all.

* * *

I rushed into the Nasty Burger to see Tucker sitting at our usual spot. He already had our food spread out on the table: a double meat patty burger (might I add a big **yuck** to that) with a large fry and vanilla milkshake for him and a full spinach salad with a chocolate milkshake for me.

He was fingering his PDA as he aimlessly ate one fry after another.

I sat in the seat across from him, taking a sip of the milkshake to make sure it was still cold, which it was, so I wasn't too late.

He looked up at me with a smirk. "Late much?"

I rolled my eyes but gave him a smile.

It took the next half an hour of talking about random stuff like the newest Dumpty Humpty cd and some school assignments for me to build up the courage to ask what I've been wondering for the past couple of days.

I took a deep breath during the pause in our conversation, the perfect time for a subject changer, and boy, did I have an interesting subject. I fingered my skirt repetitively while looking at the wall behind him. "So do you know anything about Danny Phantom?" I momentarily looked at my friend, trying to see his reaction.

Tucker snorted. "Of course, Sam; he's constantly on the news," he smiled at me slyly. "You would know that if you watched it for once.

I rolled my eyes, but continued on. "What do you think about him?"

I tried to make my question sound casual as if I was asking him about the weather, but I wasn't sure if I pulled it off.

Tucker was silent for a minute with a calculating expression. "Well, the only reason he ever shows up is to fight ghosts-the ones that are attacking us. That's all we really know about him. The town didn't even know his real name until the Fentons interrogated it out of a ghost. Until then, he was called the Mystery Ghost." Tucker chuckled, "Or, some called him Inviso-Bill."

I laughed at that, imagining my rescuer's reaction to the cheesy name. If I ever met him again, I would definitely have to bring that up.

"The ghost hunters just wrote it off as him being another ghost, just one with an obsession for fighting, but that doesn't explain why he hasn't targeted one human yet."

"So," I said, "do you think he's good?"

Tucker looked at me levelly, "Sam, there is no such thing as a good ghost."

I felt a twinge of unexpected defensiveness rise in me. "But, you said so yourself, that he didn't target any humans."

"Yet," he interjected firmly. "This ghost is powerful. He's not like anything the ghost-hunters have ever experienced before. They were able to get a reading on him, and it said his energy levels were still growing. Also, many suspect that he was the one who beat Pariah Dark three years ago. This guy can't be good, Sam."

My eyes bulged, "Wait. Pariah?"

Pariah Dark took over Amity Park three years ago and attempted to claim the rest of the human world as well. He transported Amity to the Ghost Zone, cutting off all ties with the human world so we couldn't gather our resources or aid the others when the armies started to attack different parts of the world. The Fentons were getting prepared to fight the 'king's' rule, but before they could even set up formations and plans of action, Pariah mysteriously disappeared; and the town was back in the human world while the armies of ghostly skeletons began to erode. Nobody truly knew what happened, but we all knew one thing for sure: we never wanted something that terrible to ever happen again.

Tucker nodded. "The news were able to get some pictures of him in some sort of battle suit, flying off towards the Ghost Zone."

"So, he beat the ghost who was trying to enslave us... Ya, that definitely screams evil, Tuck."

Tucker shrugged. "Maybe he was trying to claim territory; you know how ghosts can be."

"I don't know," I said, not able to keep my stupid mouth shut. "He seems different to me."

"Ya, that's what some of the town's starting to say; they think he is actually helping us." Tucker took another bite of his hamburger, followed by a quick sip of his milkshake. Then, he looked at me; a suspicious gleam in his eyes. "And, why are you so interested in ghosts all of a sudden? You never liked this stuff because you said 'it became too mainstream,'" he finished, trying to mimic my voice.

I glared at him, "Well, maybe I'm just interested, now."

He smirked at me knowingly. Uh, I hated when he did that. "Ya, sure. And, you seem to be very interested in Phantom."

I didn't say anything because I knew that if I did Tucker would just figure it out. I'm a crappy liar when it came to him; he just knew me too well, which was starting to piss me off.

His eyes widened with realization; I could already see the light bulb above his head lighting up with a _bing_. A smile began to slowly spread across his face. "Unless, you've met him, haven't you? There is no way you would be asking all these questions unless something happened. He saved you, didn't he?"

I stared at him blankly. Jeez, was I that transparent? Tucker was already at the edge of his seat, leaning across the table so close that I could smell the disgusting hamburger in his hands. I sighed, giving up because what was the point if he already knew. He would just keep pestering me to tell. "Ya, he did."

"What?!" Tucker shouted, grabbing a few people's attention.

"Tucker, shut up!" I growled.

"Oh, sorry," he whispered, but the smile was still in place. "How?" he urged. "When?"

"In order, he rescued me from two ghosts, right after I left your house," I said, leaning back in the booth, crossing my arms.

"Sam," he whined, "you got to give me more than that."

I looked up at the ceiling, annoyed. "Okay. Well, when he fought the ghosts, he made it seem so easy like they were really out of his league. I don't think he even broke a sweat." I looked at Tucker evenly, trying to make him believe what I was about to say. "Tuck, he isn't like the rest. He's different. He had actual emotions, like his expressions were so real; nothing like what we were taught: that all ghosts are unfeeling and only care about their obsession. He was nothing like that. The way he talked...it was like I was talking to a...a friend."

I smiled, remembering the kiss. Ya, a friend...

"Do you really think so?" he asked, looking at me just as seriously as I was looking at him.

I nodded. "He was nothing like the other two ghosts."

Tucker considered this quietly as he ate the rest of his hamburger. "I'm not saying I don't believe you, Sam, but you have to be careful. Don't think just because he's a little different that he's not like them. He's still a ghost."

I nodded, wanting to argue more, but I knew he was just worried for me. There was nothing I could do to change his mind, at the moment.

* * *

One heated discussion about the pros/cons of a meat-filled diet and what was the homework for Lancer's (I finished it already, so mainly it was me trying to help out Tucker who was a notorious procrastinator) later, Tucker and I parted ways, finishing up at the Nasty Burger, telling each other we would see them tomorrow.

I took the long way back to my house, so I could stop at my favorite bookstore, the BookRack.

I usually went during the night, but I didn't feel like hearing my parents rant about 'how dangerous it was to be out at night, especially for a lovely lady like me.' Besides, I was going to pass it up on the way to my house anyway.

It was a small building, having an ancient touch to it that made you feel like you went back in time whenever you stopped by. It wasn't much, but on the inside, it was filled to the brim with books, having everything from Sci-Fi to How To books. It was my sanctuary, one of the places I went to, to just think and be by myself. I pushed the old, black door, making the bell above it go ding.

I walked in, going to my normal spot where the dark fantasies and poetry books resided. I heard soft murmuring to my left; I looked up to see Jasmine Fenton standing at the check out counter. She was glaring at a boy my age with ebony black hair. He was glaring back at her; I couldn't help but notice how striking his eyes were. They were a crisp, deep blue that seemed to have many different shades of the color. I looked at the boy, not recognizing him at all, half wondering if he went to Casper. He was tall, with a very good build; it wasn't too stocky but looked like he was built more for agility and speed. But, he still had some pretty decent muscle on him. Yeah, I definitely would have noticed him if he went to Casper.

The two seemed to be having an argument.

The boy said something to Jasmine, but it was too low for me to hear. Whatever he said, made the girl even more annoyed as she crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing even more.

She shook her head at the boy as he continued to say whatever he was saying.

Jasmine said something back to him, but he looked away, not at all amused, rolling those killer blue eyes of his. Then, he noticed me, standing by the shelf, staring at them like an idiot.

His eyes widened slightly as he said something to the girl, not taking his eyes off of me, probably thinking I was some creep. She looked back at me, a small smile forming on her face. I looked the other way hastily, all of the sudden interested with the books on the nearby shelf.

I looked back at the boy momentarily, not able to keep my eyes off of him. Just something about him seemed very familiar, although I knew I never met him before, just something...

The boy looked away from the girl, feeling my eyes on him again. He stared back at me, his eyes unnerving. Looking into them made the familiarity stronger as if I've felt that very gaze before.

I stared back, this time not looking away. His expression looked strained as if he was trying to figure out something. Then, as if a switched was turned on, it changed suddenly. He smirked cockily at me and jumped over the counter, arching his body perfectly. He took Jasmine's hand hurriedly, and all but ran to the door.

Another man, Bobbie, the one who I normally saw manning the store, walked through just in time to almost run into the boy and the disgruntled girl.

I could hear the boy murmur a soft sorry and goodbye, and before I knew it, the two were out of the door leaving a confused Bobbie behind.

Shaking off his confusion, he looked up, finally noticing me in the room. He smiled brightly as he walked over to the counter, setting down all of his stuff in the process. "Hello, Sam, how's one of my favorite customers?"

I smirked at him. Bobbie, as he told me many times before to call him that, was the owner of the store. He was an old man, in his mid seventies. He was balding, with wide rimmed glasses, and a permanent smile to match the light in his dark brown eyes. Despite his old age, he was filled with life, always having something interesting to say and always offering an optimistic light to anything. He was one of those people you could share anything with and know it would always stay between the both of you only. He was the perfect person to talk to, especially when you needed to vent.

"I'm doing great," I said with a smile, trying to forget about the odd boy who was sitting behind that very counter a minute ago.

He chuckled. "Looks like you ran out one of my employees. Hope you didn't scare him too much, Sam." He gave me a knowing look.

I smirked at the man, trying to hide the confusion and uneasiness I was feeling. I couldn't get the boy's blue eyes out of my head, as if he was still staring at me.

I shook off the feeling of deja vu the best I could, turning as much of my attention to Bobbie as I could. "Ya, hope I didn't." I paused momentarily. "Who is he anyway? I've never seen him work here before."

"Oh, Danny? He works the day shifts, usually the irregular times that nobody ever takes. He's a bit reserved, but he's a good kid. A very hard worker, wish I had more like him," the man smiled. I could tell that he must have liked the boy a lot.

"Huh," I said, trying to match the boy, Danny, with Bobbie's description.

I turned away, looking at the shelves I normally went to, not really focusing on the books, but more on the boy. For some reason, he seemed to recognize me although I was pretty sure I've never met him before in my life, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that I actually did meet him. Those eyes...they seemed so familiar.

I looked away, giving up on trying to find a book, not having any interest in anything but this mystery.

I exchanged a quick goodbye with Bobbie, telling him I would see him soon, and left, all the while still thinking about the strange boy with the mesmerizing eyes.

* * *

When I came back to my room, it was already dark; but I made it back before curfew. I was pretty proud of myself.

I took off my coat throwing it on my bed along with my favorite book-bag in the shape of a violet spider; that's when I noticed it. I saw the corner of a white sheet of folded paper peeking from under my pillow, just enough so that I would notice it and no one else.

I took hold of the paper my eyes slightly widening as I read it.

_If you still want to, come meet me at the park for 8 by the playground._

_-Danny_

It was scraggly handwriting, but I could still read it. I read it over again, making sure I wasn't just imagining this.

Nope, this was definitely real life. The ghost that was loved by half of Amity-possibly the world-and hated by the other half wanted to meet me again. And, that wasn't even the most messed up part about this. The weirdest and probably the most insane part about this whole situation was that I actually wanted to see him...

I wanted to talk to him again, ask him all of my questions. For some reason I felt this strange pull to him, and somehow, I couldn't escape him. I knew now that there must have been more to this than just my strange obsession with the unique and abnormal. There was something more to it, to him, and I wasn't really sure on whether or not I wanted to find out what exactly it was.

I bit my lip, looking at my window, thinking about how my dad was so outwardly against Danny to the point where he was funding for his capture, and I knew what would happen once he was captured, very bad things. I shuddered, if Danny knew who my dad was...

I shook my head. I shoved on my black coat; squaring my shoulders with resolution, I opened the window, shimmying down the gutter-my normal escape-and started walking in the direction of the park, all the while my list of questions continued to grow bigger along with the knots in my stomach.

* * *

**And there is chapter 2! I know I'm so late on this, but all of my updates are going to be later because I'm dealing with a whole lot right now, some good, some bad. Thanks for all the support you guys are given, really every review helps and gives me inspiration. I really love writing this story so far because it's my first true story where there will be a whole lot of things going on, and the plot only gets more interesting. Oh, I can't wait to post Danny's point of view too (but I have to wait because that will ruin all of the bumps and turns I have in store)! The song, Get Up, is by Barcelona (I've been really in to their music lately).**


	3. Come Home

**Chapter 3:**

Come Home by One Republic

When I finally arrived at the playground, I saw him. I stayed on the outskirts of the playground, not yet wanting to make my presence known.

He was just laying there on the grass, eyes closed, with a sort of peaceful expression on his face. His strong arms were hooked behind his head, making parts of his messy white hair stick up. He took in a deep breath as if it was the first time he could breathe in a while. He looked so serene and comfortable, like he didn't normally relax like this and was taking full advantage of the moment.

I just stood there, staring at him. I couldn't help it. He was just so...extraordinary. He looked like a fairytale or something totally out of this world, and it wasn't in a bad way, just something different.

With the soft grass outlining his body along with the strong white aura surrounding him, his placid expression and softly closed eyes, and snow white locks framing his delicately angled features, he looked like something mystical, a make believe being that popped out of a story book. Like he wasn't even real.

Then, he took in another deep breath, filling his still form with life again, reminding me that he was real.

I walked over to him slowly, not really sure if I wanted to interrupt him; he looked so at ease. I would hate to take that away from him, but he asked me here after all.

I stopped at his form, just looking at him, waiting for him to reveal those strange green eyes of his.

As if he sensed me, his eyes snapped open, his hands bringing him partly up as he gasped, looking almost panicked.

His widened eyes looked at mine, finally registering that it was only me. He relaxed just a bit, a slow blush creeping across his face as it dawned on him how silly he looked.

He gave me an apologetic look, but I only smiled, choosing not to acknowledge what just happened. I sat next to him, all the while not taking my eyes off of him.

He looked surprised for a minute; then, he smiled angelically at me, managing to make my heart skip a beat. I was able to get over my momentary dazzlement and asked, "What?"

"I just," he said, his smile never wavering, "didn't think you were going to come."

I raised a cynical eyebrow, not able to believe that he actually thought that. "Well, I'm the one who said I wanted to meet again, remember?"

"Yeah, but I didn't think..." he trailed off, cutting his eyes back at me. He shook his head, smiling. "I keep forgetting how different you are."

"Hopefully, that's a good thing," I said, smiling knowingly at him.

The boy looked back at me, resolve set in his green orbs as he smirked at me, "Definitely."

"So..." I said, looking at the ground as I traced patterns in the grass and dirt, "I have some questions..."

I looked up at just the right time to see him roll his eyes, still smiling, but I could see his eyes become a little more guarded after my statement although it still didn't stop me from wanting to ask him everything I've been wondering. "Of course you do."

I grinned, taking that as encouragement to go on. "So you fight the ghosts, right? That's why there has been lower counts of ghost attacks, isn't it?

He shrugged, "I guess." He chuckled, "Maybe they are finally thinking twice before they come out of the Ghost Zone now."

"What is it like?"

"Well," Danny said, putting his arms lazily behind his head as he began to float in mid air in lying position with his legs crossed out in front of him, "there is a process to this: I see the ghost, ghost sees me, we exchange witty banter-well mostly I do, because it wouldn't be fun if I didn't use my awesome talent of providing cleverly designed puns-we fight, I usually wing it, it usually works out, then I go home learning a lesson about honesty or some shit like that."

He smiled goofily at me, amusement dancing in his eyes, "And there's my life story wrapped up into one big ball of amazingness." He settled back to the ground, his smile still intact as his eyes never left mine.

I just stared blankly at him, trying to process it all. "Yeah...that's definitely amazing." I couldn't help but add a little dryness to my voice.

He only chuckled, staring at me with those extraordinary eyes; he beamed at me, unaffected by my answer.

He looked every bit as cocky as the first time I met him; although, I had to admit it was quite endearing.

I couldn't help but return the smile despite the fact that it was kind of annoying me that he wasn't taking my questions as seriously as I wanted him to; but at least it made him smile, which seemed like something he didn't do often.

"So, any adventures?" I asked. He must have had some pretty amazing stories to tell. He quirked an eyebrow at me, looking at me as if I was crazy. "Oh come on," I said, raising my hands for emphasis, "I know you must have a more exciting life. Hell, you fight ghosts everyday!"

"You call that exciting?" He asked, still looking at me as if I belonged in a mental institute.

I rolled my eyes at him, but continued, ignoring the look he was giving me, "Yeah, I do."

He just stared at me, his striking eyes unnerving.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Well," I challenged.

He blinked blankly a couple times, then shook his head, smiling. "I don't know why you think the messes I get myself into are exciting but okay, fine. Let me see..." His eyes wandered, looking really looking at anything in particular as he thought.

I waited patiently, crossing my legs so that I was sitting Indian style.

He looked at me, "Okay, well, I seriously wouldn't call them adventures, but-"

"How bout you tell me about Pariah?" I prompted.

His eyes widened in shock as he looked at me, "You know about that?"

I rolled my eyes, "Almost everybody knows, Danny. Just some people choose to believe it wasn't you, but there was a picture and everything. You were in some suit, right?"

"The Fenton Suit," he confirmed.

"They let you take it?"

He looked to the side, shame on his face. He began pulling strands of grass to distract himself. "Not exactly. I took it," he looked up to see my reaction, but I remained composed, choosing to let him explain first, He hurried on, "But, it was like that. If they would have used it, which they were planning to, they would have died. The suit, it drains you. I was the only one who could use it, and it made me powerful enough to defeat him."

"So you won?" I asked, smiling at him.

He smirked, then gave a huff as he looked up at the sky, shaking his head at some memory. "Barely. But, luckily, I had some help from the other ghosts. They were able to take down his army while I fought him. But, yeah, I guess I did." He smiled.

"And," I paused, giving him a look, "the suit, it didn't drain you, right?"

"Well," his hand reached the back of his neck as he rubbed it, making bits of his hair stick up, "yeah, it did, but I was okay after. Bounced right back."

"How much?"

"Really, it wasn't that bad."

"How much?" I urged, not taking no for an answer.

He bit his lip, then looked at me warily. "Four percent was left."

I pursed my lips; I couldn't help the fact that my eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my skull. "Four percent! Danny, you could have killed yourself!"

"Yeah, but I'm fine now," he urged, hands in front of him in a surrender sign. "Honest, it was okay."

I looked at him in amazement, just staring at him in disbelief. "Thank you," I said softly, never breaking eye contact.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Thank you for saving the town," I clarified. "You didn't have to do that, risk your life and all; but you did. And, for that, thank you."

He smiled at me bashfully, his cheeks tinged red, "Uh, your welcome..."

"You know you're pretty brave," I said, smirking at him, enjoying how his cheeks were getting redder by the minute.

His head whipped towards me, I couldn't help but let a small chuckle out at seeing how utterly shocked he looked. "W-well, somebody's got to do it. But, really I'm not."

"But, really," I said, shrugging at him, "you kinda are."

I rose to my feet, and walked to the swing-set positioned in front of us. I looked back at him smiling at his dazed and confused expression, his widened eyes making the emerald shades within even more breathtaking to look at.

I sat on the swing, facing him. I gave him an easy smile, patting the swing next to me.

Without hesitation, he stood, walking over to the swing next to mine, and plopping down on it.

We just dangled on the swings for a while, enjoying the night air touching our faces.

I turned to him, remembering a certain part of the conversation I had with Tucker today.

"So, Inviso-Bill?" I smirked at him, quirking my eyebrow.

He glared at me, then crossed his arms looking to the side, muttering, "I need a publicist."

I laughed, and he looked at me finally breaking down and laughing with me.

"Good thing they finally figured out your name, or you would have been stuck with that for the rest of your life," I said, smiling at him.

He beamed back, "Oh, I would have told them eventually. You can only be called that so many times before you crack. Maybe I would have screamed it out during a fight or something." He chuckled, "Or went to the Fentons myself and told them."

He was smiling at some hidden joke behind those words, but I could see a sort of sadness in his eyes. He covered it up well, but I could still see it. And, it unsettled me. I averted my eyes to the ground, dragging my feet to make certain patterns in the dirt.

"What about you?"

I looked up to see his curious gaze fixed on me, "Huh?"

"What about you?" he repeated.

I knew what he meant; it just took me a minute to process that he actually wanted to know about me, genuinely know about me. My life wasn't even close to as exciting as his, and he still asked about it like he actually wanted to know me.

His curious expression became uneasy as he looked to the side, grimacing. He brought his hand up behind his head, rubbing the back of it in cute sort of way. "If you don't want to tell me anything, I understand. You don't ha-

"What do you want to know?" I interrupted, not wanting him to get the wrong idea at all. I smiled at him.

He looked a bit shocked for second, which was kind of funny to see with his widened green eyes resembling a cat, then his gaped mouth melted into a smile, his eyes glowing brighter. It completely disarmed me, making my smile wider. "Everything," he confirmed.

I chuckled, "Okay but just to warn you, it's not as exciting as your's."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, exciting," he mocked.

"Well my parents," I hesitated for a second remembering who exactly my parents were, mainly my Phantom-hating dad, "well, they are definitely different from me..." I looked to the side, my parents weren't exactly a topic I liked, but I felt like I could talk to him. That he would understand; I don't know how I knew this, but I just had a feeling. "They don't really accept me for just me. They constantly try to change me, make me more like them; but they just don't seem to realize that I'm just not like that. I don't want to be one of those rich, spoiled brats. I want to be just Sam. I want to be my own person, even if it's the complete opposite of them." I smiled a little, "They absolutely hate that I prefer black over pink, and that I like to spend most of my time reading and writing than going to football games and dances."

"I guess that explains why you like poetry and dark fantasies," Phantom said.

I looked at him, a bit shocked, "How do you know that?"

He blushed, rubbing the back of his head furiously, "Oh, well, you j-just seem like the type to read that stuff, y-you know?" He gave me a sheepish smile while I returned it with a skeptical look of my own. He looked to the side, his cheeks still crimson, "But," he paused, "I do understand, the whole thing with your parents... It's tough when you feel like you can't even turn to the only people in the world that should be on your side in the first place."

I blinked a couple times at him, still trying to convince myself he was actually real. And, that's when I saw it. There was the sadness in his eyes again. For the first time, I saw past the cocky, carefree front he put up; something awful happened to him, that was still happening to him. All of the sudden, I felt this fierce need to make him forget that sadness, to actually feel carefree. "Well, you guessed right," I forced a smile at him, managing to grab his attention. "I always drifted towards the darker literature section," I shrugged, "it's a weakness of mine."

We both grinned at each other. "What else?" he urged, leaning in slightly towards me, just enough to make goosebumps form on my arms from his proximity.

"Uh," it took me a moment to gather my thoughts, his intense gaze making my mind freeze; for some reason I felt a strange sense of deja vu grow within me the longer I looked into his eyes. "I love animals and am a strong advocate for animal rights, meaning I don't believe they should be stuck in cages being experimented. It's just cruel. They are beautiful creatures and-" I stopped, giving him an apologetic smile, "Heh, sorry, I kind of tend to rant when I get on that topic."

He smiled back a me, "No problem; actually, I like that you are so passionate about it. Sam Manson, protector of the small and defenseless," he smirked, "Freedom fighter of the furry and scaled!"

"Shut up," I said, delivering a small punch to his arm. "It's not like that."

"Then, what is it like?"

"I don't know," I said, looking into his eyes, then back at my feet. "I just can't stand to see anything locked up, especially when it can't even defend itself. No creature should ever be locked up for just being what it is, no matter what. It's just not right."

I peeked up at him, wary that he was going to start making fun of me. Nobody ever truly got it, not even Tucker. I was expecting to see him smirking at me, ready to fire another joke, but I was surprised to see he looked really deep in thought, looking at me with such intensity that I couldn't even look away. He looked at me as if he was trying to read my mind, trying to figure out what was going on inside me.

"I have a best friend named Tucker," I started again, trying to break the silence and awkward staring.

That seemed to jump start him again, making him break from whatever state he was in. A slow smile creeped on his face again. "Oh? And, what is he like?"

"He is great, the best friend you could ever have. We met in the first grade and were friends ever since. Although he drives me crazy sometimes,-mainly because he's such a stupid meat lover- we still stick together no matter what. I know he will always be there for me, and I will for him."

"You have a thing against meat lovers?"

"Not really against because then I wouldn't be able to deal with him. I'm an ultra-recyclo vegetarian," I said, looking to see his reaction. But, he only nodded; his expression actually seemed to grow more curious. "He is just extreme when it comes to meat, like he basically won't eat anything else." I shook my head, still smiling at the many arguments we had. "We actually fight a lot because of that, but like I said, we still managed to stick together."

I laughed at a memory. "Like one time, I was really sick with the flu-my parents were gone-so he climbed up to my window, bringing all of my favorite foods, which he said I owed him big time for because he had to actually touch them with his hands. He stayed with me for two nights, watching movies and playing board games with me."

Danny smiled, but a bit of the sadness in his eyes returned. "He sounds nice."

I smiled back at him, trying to get that sadness out of his eyes again. I didn't like it there. It made his eyes more cloudy and less bright. "Yeah, he is. Maybe you can meet him."

He smiled but it was hard and forced, "Yeah, I don't think he would like that, Sam."

He pushed his feet against the ground, making him lift off on the swing. I did the same, but still kept my eyes on him. "And, why do you think that?"

He quirked an eyebrow at me, "Do you even have to ask? I'm surprised that you even wanted to meet me. Nobody wants to hang out with a ghost."

"But you're different; you're not like a ghost," I urged.

He stopped abruptly, his feet planted on the ground, staring at me with fear in his eyes and shock making his mouth go slack, "What?"

Huh, that was a weird reaction. I brushed it aside. "You're not like other ghosts, I said. You have actual emotions, and you can go two seconds without trying to kill someone or destroy something. And, you actually fight others who do. And..."

I trailed off, not really knowing if I should say what else was on my mind.

"And what?" he urged, his eyes becoming strangely intense.

"And, when I talk to you; it's like I'm talking to someone I've known all my life. I feel safe when I'm around you, and I like being with you," I broke eye contact, so I wasn't really able to see his face after I said that. I was too busy trying to stop the blush that I knew was creeping across my cheeks.

"I like being with you too."

I looked up at him to see him smiling at me. He looked up at the sky with a pained relief in his expression. "When I'm talking with you, I feel like I can actually breathe, like everything is not coming at me all at once. And, I feel like I can tell you anything."

"Then, why don't you?" I asked, although I knew it was something I shouldn't ask for if I couldn't even tell him who my dad was.

He looked at me, his expression more pained, he looked older, seeming more haggard looking by many unknown problems he's dealt with. "Because, it wouldn't be safe. And, it would be stupid," he huffed a hard chuckle that was more grim and mocking, "You think my life is exciting. It's not; it's dangerous, especially for those who are close to me."

"So you push them away," I said.

His grim smile turned sarcastic, "You can't push away what you don't have; I'm not close to a lot of people. I can't be."

"That's what you think," I said. I finally understood the sadness in his eyes. He was alone in all of this. Completely alone. That only made me want to be there for him more. "You still need friends, Danny; everybody needs help once in a while."

"Maybe, but I can't afford it."

I was about to protest, but the chime of the clock near us stationed on a nicely crafted post interrupted, getting both of our attention. The chimes ended, indicating that it was ten o'clock.

Danny stood, sticking his hand out to help me up, "It's past curfew. Do you mind if I take you home so I know you're okay?"

I accepted his hand with a nod.

He grinned back at me, pulling me in and gently lifting me until I was in his arms bridal style, which I would have minded with anybody else but him. My arms hooked around his neck, loose enough not to strangle him.

* * *

The flight back to my house was quiet. Both of us were not really sure what to say to the other, it was not an awkward silence.

It was actually comforting, just to feel his arms around me, that one simple thing filling my thoughts. Words were not needed because this was enough.

I relaxed a little bit more, settling into his hold; in reaction, his arms tightened even more around me, making me feel safer.

I peered at him and couldn't help but smile. I couldn't help it.

He was looking ahead, his eyebrows scrunched together in a cute sort of way. It made him look like he was thinking about something much more deeper than just flying. His eyes seemed to be blazing even more with the strange green flames emitting an inner light; they looked much brighter compared to the dark night around us. His whole being seemed to be brighter, with his body encased in a glistening aura-very different from the dark auras of the other ghosts- and his soft windblown hair shining just as luminous and starkingly white as the moon. He was breathtaking. And, somehow, by just looking at him, I felt something I've really never truly felt before: hope.

I didn't know why I automatically associated that word with him, but it just seemed to fit, making me realize that he really was that.

He was light; he was hope.

Feeling my eyes on him, he looked down at me, his eyebrows knitting even more together, making him look confused. "What? Is there something wrong?"

He looked so concerned as if he was expecting me to start screaming at any moment. I only smiled at him, shaking my head slowly. I only knew him for a couple days, but I could already tell how truly clueless he was, which was a lot if you were wondering.

"Nothing," I said, then I cut my eyes at him, thinking that he needed a little push out of his clueless handicap, "Just enjoying the view."

He smirked at me, "Can't blame you," he said. "But, I'm pretty sure mine is better." He looked ahead again, then sighed. "Look's like this is it." I couldn't help but hear a bit of dejectedness in his voice to my surprise and pleasure.

I looked up to see we stopped at my window, noting that he remembered exactly where my room was.

I leaned away from him as he reluctantly loosened his grip on me, opening my window.

He carefully set me down in my room.

I turned to look at him.

Even though he was still smiling at me, I could tell he was just as sad that this ended so early as I was. "Stay," I said, my voice a mixture of questioning and demanding. I didn't want this to end so soon, and I still wanted to know more about him, much more.

His eyes widened as he just stared at me. "What?"

"Stay with me," I reiterated. I drew closer to the window, not taking my eyes off of his, trying to convince him silently that it was okay.

"I-I" He stuttered, "What about your parents?'

I smirked at him. "They won't ever know. Besides, why would someone who fights ghosts on a regular basis and who can turn invisible be afraid of parents." Despite my words, I couldn't help but think he had a reason to be afraid of mine.

"Well, you never truly know," he said, smiling.

"Please?" I asked, stretched out my hand towards him. I tried to look confident and like I actually knew what I was doing and totally not embarrassed, but I was silently screaming at myself to not seem too pushy and clingy.

He look down at my hand, then looked up at me, his expression torn. But, then, something seemed to click in him. He gripped my hand, looking a bit cautious but he let me pull him into my room.

His eyes took in the room, roaming around until they finally settled on me. I grinned at him, "Planning to stay up there." He was still floating in my room, seeming to forget that there was actually a floor.

He gave me a confused look, "Wha.." Then he looked down, realizing he was still floating. He smiled bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh."

He drifted down to the ground, planting his feet firmly on the floorboards.

I smiled at him, then turned away from him, walking to my bed. Using my foot, I took off my combat boot, then repeated the action with the other.

I peered over my shoulder to see he was staring at me.

Feeling a little more confident, I sat on my bed, turning my body so that I was facing him. He was still staring a me with a funny expression.

Aw, so clueless.

I cut my eyes at him, patting the spot in front of me. It was not like I had anywhere else for him to sit, and I honestly didn't mind. I felt like I could trust him; I knew it was crazy to think that but oh well.

He seemed to understand that. He walked very slowly to my bed, like every move he did was thought out first in his head before executing. In fact, this was probably the slowest I've ever seen him move.

He finally came to my bed, sitting down hesitantly in front of me, leaving more than enough space between us. I wanted to close the space, to show him that I wasn't afraid of him; but then, I thought, I didn't want to take it too far. He didn't seem like the type to ever do this; the last thing I wanted to do was scare him. Ha, scare him, kind of ironic.

"So," I said, giving him a look, "would it be evasive if I asked what kind of powers you have?"

It took him a second to process what I was asking, probably trying to get through the shock that he was actually sitting on my bed, or at least that was what his face was saying; then he smirked at me, the normal cocky light returning in his eyes. The shy boy sitting in front of me changed back to normal Danny Phantom. "Not evasive unless...well, I can't really tell you; what if you wanted to use this information against me. You know, it's pretty important."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, yes, because I'm some evil mastermind planning your destruction," I cut my eyes at him, smiling as I played along. "Knowing your powers will definitely get me one step closer."

"I knew it," he said, giving me one of his sarcastic smiles.

I returned the smile, leaning closer to him, staring into his eyes. "So, hero, are you going to tell me, or will I have to force it out of you?"

He grinned, leaning closer towards me so that our faces were even closer together. "I don't know? I've always been the hard way kind of guy."

"Fine," I grinned, slowly putting my hand behind my back, taking hold of the corner of one of my pillows, "then, you leave me no choice." I gripped the pillow even tighter, and whipped it around me, hitting him directly in the head.

"Wha!" He went back, but his arms caught him on the bed just in time. He stared at me in surprise, looking a little dazed, as if he couldn't believe I actually did that.

I laughed, getting on my knees so that I was higher up than him, making him look up at me. I held the pillow menacingly in front of him. "Give up?"

He smirked, a mischievous light in his eyes that did not make me feel comforted at all.

Suddenly, so fast that I couldn't process it, I was pinned down to my bed with him on top of me, the same smirk still intact on his face. "I think the question is do you?"

At this point, are faces were so close that if either of us moved even an inch we would touch. I stared at his brilliant emerald eyes, marveling at how alive they looked. At this moment, I didn't see any of the sadness I saw before. I saw just him, carefree and normal Danny. For the first time, I saw the teenager, not the untouchable ghost hero.

I couldn't stop the blush spreading across my face, but at the moment, I really didn't care because right then and there, staring at him, I could feel something changing in me. I couldn't deny it anymore, or just ignore it. Yes, it was now acknowledged, but that didn't mean I knew what to do with it or even knew how to identify what it truly was. All I knew was that I was starting to care for him.

We just stared at each other, both captivated by the other, breathing heavily, frozen in place.

I felt one of his hands loosen from around my wrist. Not thinking, I lifted my hand to his face, outlining the different angles and his strong cheekbones and jaw. His eyes slid half way closed, but still focused on me.

My hand found its way to his hair, touching the softs wisps of hair; something I've been wanting to do. For some reason, the white hair was mesmerizing, beckoning me to touch it, to see if it was real. I don't know why, but I was half expecting it to dematerialize in my hands, maybe because it reminded me so much of the soft clouds in the sky. It was so pure, and every strand seemed to be glowing. His hair was soft and tangled; I raked my hands continuously through it.

He just stared at me, still frozen, but his shoulders began to relax, loosening from their stiff position.

He opened his mouth to say something; but instead, he gasped, a soft blue wisp coming out of his mouth, looking as if his breath was visible. He shivered involuntarily; eyes wide open now. He was upright before I knew it. I sat up, peering up at his form as he began to get up. I could here him saying to himself, "You've got to be kidding me."

"What is it?" I asked, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

He looked at me, now standing over me, shoulders slumped. "Ghost. That was my ghost sense you just saw."

"Ghost sense," I smiled. "Looks like I found out one of your powers."

He smirked back, "Guess you won this time."

I looked at him, a little sad because I knew he had to leave. "Not really."

He kneeled down so that we were eye level with a hopeful expression. "Meet me tomorrow, same time, same place?"

I nodded, smiling at the thought of seeing him again.

He smiled back, then got up, leaving in the direction of the window.

"Danny?" I said. He turned towards me, his expression questioning. I looked at him steadily, clutching my folded legs closer to my chest. "Be careful, okay?"

He nodded, giving me a mock salut, grinning at me goofily.

He left the room, his form melting into the walls.

* * *

**A/N: Okay! Chapter 3! Woo! Well, I have some pretty bad news. I tore my ACL playing soccer. For those who don't know, an ACL is the ligament in the knee; basically something that you don't want to tear...Ever. Yeah, so that's why this chapter is a bit late and that's why some of the reviews aren't answered. :/ I had surgery Thursday, and they found out I tore a bit of my meniscus too. Luckily, they didn't have to shave it off or take it out; I just have two stitches in one side and three stitches in the other. Hopefully, they heal; if they don't, well, I can't play soccer anymore. Recovery time is going to be 6 to 10 months. I will be able to play soccer around the sixth or seventh month, but no cutting or doing moves (if all goes well). I will be going through a tough time, and I'm not sure what will happen in the future. My story updates (The Catalyst and Dangerous Trust) probably won't be as fast or coming in the next month due to all of this going on with me. I'm sorry, but really, it's going to be hard, but I will NOT stop writing. So don't worry there; I will never quit a story. Besides, I just love writing too much. Thanks for all the support, you guys!**

**On to non-depressing stuff, the song Come home is so good :) completely inspired this chapter.**

**Also I just noticed that a whole chunk of my writing was missing in chapter 2 (when Sam is looking at the video with her dad) I just put it in and hopefully it's up now. Also tell me if there seems to be anything missing in this chapter.**


	4. Everything Has Changed

Chapter 4: Everything Has Changed

"So," Tucker taunted, smirking at me, "saved by Phantom lately? Or did you spend all night researching him?"

I looked at him, glaring. My grip tightened around my book-sack as I began to walk a bit faster. "What?"

He only matched his pace with mine, unaffected. He looked at me pointedly, "You've been quiet all day at school with this weird daydreamy expression on your face. The quiet part is a dead ringer enough."

I stayed silent, choosing to look at the passing buildings than at my friend.

"Sam, you have to tell me. He's not harassing you, is he? Oh God, please tell me he is not-"

"No!" I jerked my head, glaring at him. Did Tucker really have to be so panicky? "I told you he was different, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but you only met him once, Sam."

I stayed silent. He picked it up quickly, his eyes widening. "Sam," he whined, looking at me with a pained expression. "It was only once right?"

I could tell by his tone that he wasn't going to like my answer. "I met him last night. Again."

He dragged his hand over his face. "Why do you get yourself in this crap?" He was already glaring at me disapprovingly, but I could see he was afraid, scared for me. That was the only thing that didn't make me retaliate back. "Sam, you can't do this. Fraternizing with ghosts is illegal! And, you're fraternizing with the worst of all. Phantom is powerful and an anomaly, which means he is the most dangerous. We don't know anything about him except the fact that his powers keep growing to even higher levels. Do you really think it's smart to be around this ghost?"

I clenched my hands into fists. "Tucker, you don't even freaking know him. I've been with him two times more than you ever have, and he hasn't attacked me once. If he was really the big bad ghost you think he is, wouldn't I be dead by now? Or missing like the rest of the other victims?

"You don't even know him; so before you start questioning my intelligence, I suggest you get some real facts."

We stopped at my house, both of us staring at each other.

He blinked at me blankly, his mouth opening and closing as if he was trying to find the right words to say. Finally, his chest puffed down as he sighed in defeat. "Look, do you really think he is...you know...good?"

I remembered last night; everything, the way he seemed so cautious around me and how he was so worried about everything else but himself. There was no possible way it was all an act; there was no way he could have faked all those emotions. They were just so real. "Yeah, I know he is."

Tucker looked at me steadily, digesting what I said. "Then, I believe you."

I smiled at him, thinking that nobody could have a better best friend than mine. I smiled even wider as a thought just came up. "Do you want to meet him?" Danny did say, after all, that Tucker sounded nice. His only objection to meeting him was that Tucker wouldn't like it. He never said anything about him not liking it.

I chuckled at Tucker's gaped expression. Raising my eyebrow, I said, "You know, you are going to catch flies that way."

He didn't seem to hear me. "You just...asked...me. If I want to meet him?"

"Yep, pretty much," I shrugged. "Come on, Tuck; Danny Phantom, you gotta be a little curious."

This seemed to jump start him. He began to smile slowly, a familiar gleam in his eyes. The kind of gleam that appeared when ever he got a new piece of technology that he was about to play with. "Okay, why not?"

I smiled, wrapping my arm around his shoulder, as we walked into my house. "Tuck, be prepared to have your mind completely blown."

He smiled at me. Although it was hesitant, I could tell he was definitely coming with me, and I couldn't help but be glad because he was my best friend after all. And, for him to be a part of this with me, it would make this even better.

l

"Come on, Tuck," I said, picking up the pace. We just passed the entrance to the park and were heading towards the playground where Phantom and I agreed on to meet. "We're gonna be late."

Tucker seemed to be falling even more behind. "U-uh," his voice wavered, "S-sam are you sure about this?"

I looked back at him, smiling confidently, "Yes, just trust me okay."

He nodded resolutely, catching up to me.

We both entered the playground; my eyes immediately went to Danny.

He wasn't lounging on the ground like last time; instead, he was slumped over his knees, his back facing us. Just by looking at his posture, I could tell he was tired. Maybe he had a hard day today. The whole school was talking about how there were more ghost attacks than normal today. It was probably that.

I tugged Tucker by the arm, forcing him to take a step closer along with me.

Danny's head shot up; he turned back to look in our direction. A big smile was planted on his face, but the moment he saw us (as in Tucker), the smile disappeared. He immediately got up, taking a step back.

He looked straight at me, and it was obvious what he was thinking. His expression was clear to read. Disbelief. Betrayal. Hurt.

Seeing him like that, it made me close the distance between us and break the silence. "Danny."

He took another step back, looking at me as if I was going to hurt him.

I raised my hands up in surrender. "No, wait! This is Tucker. Remember? I told you about him."

He nodded slowly.

"I said I wanted you guys to meet, right?"

"Yeah, but I didn't think you were serious," he said, his voice growing slightly angry.

"Look, I know it's a bit of a shock," I said, keeping my eyes on him, afraid that the moment I blinked or looked away he would be gone, "but it wasn't like I could call you and tell you the change. Look, Tucker guessed about..us." It took me a while to find the correct phrase for what we had, and I couldn't help the butterflies in my stomach after saying that word. "He was worried, and I didn't want him to believe that you were like the rest of them. I didn't want my best friend to think that about you. So, I asked him to come and see for himself."

Danny stayed silent, but I could see he was calming down, starting to waver.

So I pushed harder. "Please. Just trust me."

We stared at each other for a long time.

I don't know what he saw in me, but he looked to the side, then at Tucker who was still standing in the same spot behind me. He relaxed the tension in his shoulders with a sigh. "Okay."

I smiled at him, taking his hand and pulling him along. "Come on."

Despite the fact that he was probably way stronger than me, he let me pull him to Tucker.

"This is my best friend Tucker Foley," I presented with a smile.

Tucker was still staring at Phantom as if he'd seen a g- oh wait a minute that is just too ironic to even think. Well, at least he wasn't freaking out like Tucker normally did.

Luckily, Danny was the first to take initiative. With a hesitant smile, he said, "Hi, Tucker."

Tucker blinked at him, still staring. "So you're Danny Phantom," he said slowly, staring at Danny with wide eyes.

The boy in question smirked sarcastically, "Na, its really all just a hoax, you know for publicity. Really, it's a name that's covering my secret identity. You know, I figured, hey want to be a super hero, have to have a new name. I mean, I have to work with the laws of society here. Am I right?"

I rolled my eyes. Tucker just blinked blankly at him. "Really?"

Danny chuckled, putting out his hand, "Call me Danny."

Tucker took the hand, a shaky smile growing on his face.

I sat down on the grass, a bit relieved, I smiled up at the boys. "Now that we got that settled," I said at the two boys staring down at me. "How did last night go?"

They both followed suit, we were positioned in the shape of a small triangle so we could see one another easily. I was glad to see that Tucker seemed to be becoming more comfortable around Danny. He didn't seem nearly as fidgety, and Danny looked a bit more relaxed too.

Danny raised a questioning eyebrow, clearly not knowing what I was talking about.

"The ghost?" I prompted.

"Oh," he said, his eyes widening with realization. "Yeah, it was just the Box Ghost." He rolled his eyes. "Figures it would be him."

Tucker looked at him questioningly, "Is he that annoying blue guy obsessed with boxes?"

"Yep, that's him," Danny said, smiling. "Ooh, I am the Box Ghost. Beware!" He mimicked, raising his hands up in a mocking gesture of the ghost.

Tucker and I chuckled along with Danny. I had to say it was kind of nice how we all seemed to mesh together so fast. It was as if it should have always been this way.

"Who was that other ghost you were fighting this morning?" Tucker asked once the laughter died down.

"Skulker?" Danny cocked his head questioningly.

"Yeah, what's his deal? He doesn't seem like he's that interested in the town and attacking it like all the other ghosts."

Danny scratched the back of his head, giving a hesitant grin. "Yeah, that's kinda my fault there. Skulker is," he paused raising his hands up in air quotes, "'the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter'" he dropped his hands, rolling his eyes, "that's why he's always after me. He basically, if I remember right, wants my pelt on his wall or was it my head on his floor?..." Danny shrugged, grinning, "I don't know; hard to keep track of all the threats."

Tucker made a face, "That's sick, man."

Danny smiled, "That's what I said. I suggested needle pointing to him one time, but he really didn't like that. Maybe he's afraid of yarn or something..." he trailed off, looking as if he was really considering this about the ghost.

I couldn't help but chuckle. I looked over at Tucker to see him choking back a laugh too.

Tucker opened his mouth with another question, but Danny beat him to it. "And the ghost after him was Technus, master of long monologues and shouting out his plans. Oh, and he does something with technology too.

"And the ghost after that was Desiree," he looked at us solemnly. "Never," he waved his hands around theatrically, "under any circumstance, wish for something out loud. Trust me, it won't be your wish, and next thing you know, you're stranded in the Ghost Zone on a floating island with nothing but a pillow and a thermos in your hands."

"Did that happen to you?" Tucker asked, leaning in closer out of curiosity.

Danny blanched, then looked to the side quickly, rubbing the back of his neck furiously. "No. It-uh-happened to this other guy I knew."

I covered my mouth to hide the smile. But, I recovered and managed to say, "Man, three ghosts? You had one hell of a day."

He shrugged, "I like to keep busy." Danny leaned back on his hands stationed in the grass, looking at us confidently, a smirk playing on his lips. "So, what did you guys do today?"

I raised my eyebrow. He had to be joking, right?

"Uh, school?" Tucker said, his tone sounding like there was a big duh at the end of his sentence.

Danny scratched his head as he gave us a confused look. "You have that today?"

I looked at him levelly. "It's Tuesday."

"Huh," he continued scratching his hair, in the process making it messier than usual, "I could have sworn it was Sunday. That explains why there was nobody in the..." He stopped scratching his head as he looked up at us. "Uh... Never-mind."

Huh, that was odd. I wondered where he could have been...

Tucker looked at him questioningly, "Wha-"

"So," Danny interjected almost too happily with a wide smile plastered on his face, "how was school? Gave any teachers some apples, ate the cafeteria food, any pop quizzes?" He made a face, "Hopefully no on the last one, hate those things."

"Uh, no on the apples part," I said, thinking that none of our teachers deserved apples, especially the Ghost 101 teacher might I add. "A definite no on the cafeteria food, but I speak for myself." I cut my eyes at Tucker.

He rolled his eyes at me, smiling easily, "You just don't like the fact that I had two helpings of sloppy joe's." He closed his eyes, sighing, "Ah, good, tasty meat."

I glared at him; for a second considering whether or not I was going to hit him.

"Wow," Danny said, bringing both of our attention to him. "I think your obsession with meat can rival the Lunch Lady's."

I smirked at Tucker. "You see. You have a sicker problem than that crazy Lunch Lady ghost." I looked back at Danny blankly. "Uh, who's the Lunch Lady ghost by the way?"

Danny opened his mouth to answer, but Tucker beat him to it. "She is that ghost who attacked the school about three years ago. I think it was one of the first. She attacked but then she mysteriously disappeared." He looked at Danny. "That was the first time sights of you were reported... Was that you who made her go?"

"Yeah, she was one of the first ghosts I fought. My first public battle too." Danny looked at him steadily, watching how Tucker reacted.

Tucker only smiled, "That's pretty cool, dude." His smile grew bigger as curiosity formed in his eyes, "So, what other stuff you do besides fighting ghosts?"

Danny blinked at him blankly. "Honestly," he smiled at bit hesitantly, "I don't really have enough time to do anything else."

Tucker whistled. "Man, that's rough. No time to even play Doomed."

"What?" Danny looked at Tucker blankly.

"Dude! Tell me you're joking?!" Tucker shouted in disbelief, shaking Danny as if to shake some sense into.

I couldn't help but laugh at Tucker's antics.

Danny was looking at me with a 'help me' expression.

I decided to let him off the hook and finally tell him. "It's a video game. Tucker is a techno geek too. Completely in love with technology; he's actually pretty good with it too."

Tucker looked over at me, relinquishing his hold of Danny, who was still staring at him as if he were crazy. "Why you sound so surprised?"

"Because it's surprising that you know something useful," I quipped, smirking.

Tucker rolled his eyes, grumbling a remark that I couldn't hear.

Danny smiled, holding back a chuckle.

Tucker returned his attention to the ghost boy, "But, seriously? You haven't ever played Doomed?"

Danny shook his head, his face showed that he was still wary of what the techno geek might do once hearing this bit of information.

"We need to educate you," Tucker said, his smile turned mischievous. "This is gonna be fun."

"Now, I'm officially scared," Danny said, still staring at Tucker warily.

"But you fight ghosts," I pointed out.

He side glanced at me, but returned his attention quickly back to Tucker. "Exactly."

Tucker grinned crazily at us. "Cool, I scare Danny Phantom."

I cut my eyes at him. "Don't flatter yourself."

"Yeah," Danny said, rolling his eyes at the boy, "I don't think that is something to be proud of."

Tucker shrugged. "Everybody's a critic."

We all laughed together.

I looked over at Danny, not able to keep the awe out of my expression. I was both surprised and happy that he was able to win over Tucker so easily. Tucker, the guy who never missed a lesson in Ghost 101, who always took the Anti-Ghost Laws so seriously, was now talking to the notorious Danny Phantom, ghostboy of Amity Park. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride for Danny.

An alarm started beeping. Both Danny and I jumped at the sudden noise.

We looked over at Tucker, to see the noise coming from his PDA.

I rolled my eyes as Danny just looked at him questioningly.

"It's curfew," Tucker clarified, pressing the certain commands to get the PDA to turn off.

"Seriously, Tuck, you're worried about that?" I asked, a little annoyed.

"Sam, you never know when a gho-" he cut off, looking at Danny. He gave him a sheepish look. "I guess it doesn't really matter now, heh-heh."

Danny gave the boy an easy smile, but his eyes retained some seriousness in them. "No, you're right; you guys should probably be going. Besides you never know whe-" He cut off as a blue mist came out of his mouth, gasping. His ghost sense.

He looked up at nothing in particular with an annoyed expression on his face. "You have got to be kidding me; how many are there going to be today. You would think the portal was opened 24/7 with the way they just keep coming...and coming and coming."

Tucker leaned over towards me and whispered, "Uh, what was that?"

"His ghost sense," I confirmed, still looking at Danny as he complained something about lack of sleep and the Box Ghost.

He looked over at us, eyes calculating. "You think you guys can make it back while I take care of this?"

"Yeah, dude," Tucker volunteered. "I will walk Sam back to her house."

"Okay," Danny said hesitantly, I could tell he wasn't too sure about letting us walk by ourselves after curfew. "Just be careful, okay?"

We both nodded as we all got up from our spots, looking at each other awkwardly, not really sure what proper goodbye should be exchanged.

Danny was the first to break the silence. "I will see you tomorrow, same time?" It came out more as a question as if he wasn't sure if we would want to see him again; I was kind of sad that he had little faith.

I smiled warmly at him, and was surprised to see Tucker was doing the same. "Yeah, definitely."

Tucker nodded in agreement. "Maybe I can bring Doomed."

Danny pretended to grimace, but gave us a smile. He chuckled lightly. "Sure," he began to float in the air, taking on a readied position, "I'll see you guys later, bye."

We both waved as he took off toward the direction of the ghost that just triggered his ghost sense.

When Danny was out of view, Tucker turned towards me, smiling widely. "Well, that was interesting."

I rolled my eyes at my friend. "Come on."

We began to walk to the entrance of the park, heading in the direction of our homes.

It was silent for a while between Tucker and me. I could tell he was really thinking about something; he was just in one of those (rare) thoughtful moments. I could probably guess what is was or who it was about, so I remained quiet, letting him think about what happened tonight. It was probably really mind blowing.

"You know," Tucker said, finally breaking through the quiet night air, "he's not that bad."

I smiled at him, encouraging him to go on. H already knew my opinion; I wanted to hear his.

He seemed to take the hint and continued. "He's so different. When I was talking to him-when we were talking to him-he was so normal. I felt like it was just a normal guy, and I liked him. I would like him as a friend, a good friend." He looked at me, his gaze steady and unbelieving. "I don't know what to think anymore, Sam. I mean, this ghost, he's not like other ghosts. And, I've seen the other ghosts-you've seen them-they don't-they are not like him."

"So, you like him?" I asked, a slow grin growing on my face. "You believe me?"

Tucker nodded. "I think he really is good, Sam. And, I know this is probably going to sound weird, especially coming from me, but I feel like we can help him. I want to help him. We can trust him." He gave me a firm look as if by saying the words they became even more true for him.

I smiled.

We came to a stop at my house, standing in front of the stoop. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay, Tuck," I said, waving as I walked up the stairs.

"Hey, Sam?"

I turned back, looking at Tucker. "Yeah?"

"I know it didn't take a whole night to convince you to trust him," I could see an expression of disbelieving awe in his eyes, "how did you know?"

I smirked at my friend. "It just felt right."

Tucker gave me a small smile. "I feel it too."

My smile only grew bigger. I was happy to see that Tucker was now on my side and Phantom's too. "See ya later, Tuck."

"Bye, Sam."

I watched his form disappear around the corner. Then, I looked up expectantly. For some reason, I felt as if we were being watched for part of the walk back to my house, but it was a safe feeling. So I kinda knew who it was. "You can come out now," I said, not really giving him much of a choice.

Slowly, I saw the ghost boy appear above me, giving me a perplexed look. "How did you know?"

"Well, first of all, I thought that you probably would have wanted to see if we were okay."

"And, second of all?" he prompted.

I grinned at him. "Second of all, I'm a good guesser."

He rolled his eyes, but his mood seemed a lot brighter.

"You heard what Tucker said, didn't you?" I asked.

He scratched the back of his neck,-I'm starting to realize-his normal gesture. "Yeah, I did. I didn't mean to, but I really couldn't help it. But, I didn't hear everything."

"Well, at least you know now that I'm not the only one."

He looked at me in disbelief, seeming like he had never even considered that. Then, he smirked cockily at me, but somehow the expression was goofy at the same time. I was beginning to think that only Danny could pull that off. "Wow, I'm becoming extremely popular. "

I laughed. "Yeah, before you know it, you will be signing autographs."

He chuckled, then sighed theatrically. "I guess it's expected. I mean, I've been told I'm pretty charming, you know."

I rolled my eyes. "And modest," I added with sarcasm.

He shrugged. "That too."

We both smiled at each other.

I tucked a piece of my hair behind my face, not able to break eye contact with him. I wanted to talk to him more. "Do you want to come up?"

He gave me a smile, not seeming to be as hesitant as he was last night. "Yeah, I would like that."

I gave him a shy smile. "I'll meet you up there, okay?"

He nodded, then disappeared from sight.

I hurried through the door, rushing up the stairs as quietly as I could; my parents were sleeping after all or at least in their room. No need to bring them out. The last thing I wanted was to have a conversation with them about the rules of curfew and how they thought I shouldn't even be out at night despite the fact that curfew didn't shorten to only daylight hours.

I finally came to my room, opening the door.

I saw him standing there, studying the pictures on my dresser. His aura made his body shine even more among the darkness of my room.

I walked over to him, peering at the picture he was staring at. It was one of Tucker and me leaning in on each other, arms wrapped around each other's shoulders. We were grinning at the camera. It was taken the summer before freshman year.

I didn't look much different from the picture. I was much taller than my fourteen year old self. I traded my purple tights and skirt for black jeans, but the combat boots stayed. I still couldn't resist a good pair of old fashion combat boots. I got over the purple lipstick phase, instead going bare; my lips had enough color in them not to need lipstick despite the constant prodding of my mom. My hair was still the same layered style but maybe a little bit longer. But, all in all, there wasn't a lot of change; I was still me.

"How old were you in this picture?" he asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I shrugged. "Fourteen. It was taken a little before ninth grade."

He was silent for a minute, staring at the picture. I didn't know why, but something I must have said seemed to put him in a darker mood. His expression seemed a bit glum as he stared at the picture. Something told me that it was more than loneliness. Even before, I've never seen him like this. He seemed to almost age in front of me, eyes showing that he's seen some things that shouldn't have been seen.

I sighed, grabbing his hand, leading him to my bed. "Okay, enough looking at me in my awkward teen years."

I settled myself on the soft mattress, pulling him down with me.

He still seemed a bit out of it, too into his own thoughts.

I needed a way to get him to start talking again; I didn't like how down he looked. "So, you never did tell me the rest of your powers," I prompted, looking at him expectantly. I decided just to pretend like I didn't notice his sudden change in mood.

He looked at me, a bit shocked as if he just realized I was here in front of him. Then, he seemed to break out of his silent thoughts, giving me one of his crooked smirks. "I thought we already established that I can't."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, I forgot; I am an evil mastermind bent on your destruction."

"Just being cautious." His smirk never left his face as his eyes danced with amusement.

I smiled at him, happy that I provided a good distraction for him. Then, I got an idea. I crazy, insane, stupid idea.

I leaned over towards him, looking at him, trying to mirror the intensity he sometimes looked at me with. My smile grew seductive, or at least I tried to make it. I didn't really have a lot of practice at this, but I seemed to be doing something right because in reaction, his cheeks turned a bright shade of red as he looked at me questioningly. I could see his eyes searching mine, trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do.

I only smiled wider. "Maybe you need some persuasion."

I tried to bite down a laugh as I heard a distinctive gulp.

He seemed to be too preoccupied to notice I was gripping the corner of the pillow behind me. "A lot of persuasion," I purred, tightening my hold on the pillow.

Suddenly, in a quick fluid motion, I pelted the pillow at him.

With a surprised yelp, he fell off the bed, but not before being hit with the pillow. He fell ungracefully to the floor, looking at me with a wide-eyed expression.

I fell to the mattress in a fit of giggles, clutching my stomach.

Through my laughter, I managed to say to him, "You fell for it again." But, that was the only boasting I could get out, the rest was lost in another fit of laughter.

I looked over at him, the same expression on his face. But, he seemed to be coming too; he glared at me in a playful way. "You are evil," he stated dramatically. This only made me laugh harder.

By the time I was finished, my stomach was hurting from the exertion, and my eyes were watering.

"Are you done?" He got up from the floor and took his position on the bed once more.

"Yep," I said, smiling at him.

He gave up trying to act annoyed with me, and settled with a smile.

I unconsciously scooted closer to him, staring at the boy in front of me. His eyes were more brilliant than ever, putting any emerald to shame with its radiance.

"Are you going to tell me?" I asked, looking at him hopefully.

He blinked at me. "Why do you want to know so bad?"

"Because," I said, looking down momentarily. "I don't really know anything about you. I feel like you're still this big mystery to me." I couldn't help the blush spreading across my cheeks, feeling a bit embarrassed that I was admitting this. "And, I want to get to know you."

"Okay," he said. He was giving me a genuine smile, his eyes tender. "I have all the basic ghost powers: invisibility, intangibility, flight. Those are the usuals, any level ghost has them. There's super strength too," he frowned, annoyed as he grumbled. "Unfortunately, a lot of ghosts have that too.

"Then, there is 'manipulation of ectoplasm.'" He rolled his eyes. "Basically, it's just ecto-beams and ecto-shields. Usually, the more upper-level ghosts have that, although the energy can be different depending on how strong the ghost is."

"Energy can have different levels of power too?" I interrupted.

"Yeah," he said, grinning at me. "Ecto-energy has different variations of strength. But, it's not simple. Some energy is weaker than others while other energies can be almost the same in strength but have different purposes."

I gave him a questioning look, not really getting it.

"Okay," he explained, "blue energy, like what the Box Ghost uses, it is the weakest energy of the energy levels. But, green energy," he put his hand out in front of me; a small green flame materialized. I stared at the dancing energy, noticing the different shade of greens. It seemed so alive, moving rapidly within the boundaries of his hand. It reminded me of his eyes. "Green energy is different from red or magenta energy, but they are almost the same in strength. They have different purposes. I'm not really too sure how since this never really was explained fully to me. But, I guess I can try. Red energy is more deadly. It's purpose is to kill; it's unrelenting and precise. That's why you see more of the stronger, malevolent ghosts use it."

"And green?" I asked, still staring at the moving energy in his hand.

"Green is more explosive," Danny said. His voice grew quieter. "And, it's the hardest to control."

I looked up at him; caution was in his eyes as if he was afraid to admit this to me. "Why?" I simply asked.

"Because it's not in it's nature to be controlled," he said, his voice still quiet. "It's more alive than the others. The other energy, red energy, it doesn't take much to control because it's fueled purely by negative energies." He looked at me levelly, "It's easy to hate and feel fury."

I stared at him, wishing he would further explain why he said that. It seemed like he knew something more about this, like he's seen this, as if he was talking about a particular person or ghost.

"So you are able to control it," I concluded, already knowing I was right. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride for him.

The green flames disappeared from his hand as he drew it back. He looked to the side and mumbled. "I guess it's something to do with will or something like that."

I smiled at him, reaching for the hand that was just in front of me. I held it, gripping it tenderly as I looked at him. "Yeah, something like that."

He looked up at me, his expression somber, then looked down at our joined hands. A slow smile spread on his face. "Yeah," he said, still looking at our hands.

"So, there's the usual powers. What else?"

"Well, then there's the unusual, I guess," he said, looking back up at me. His eyes light as he smirked at me. "There's ice powers, ghostly wail, teleportation, and duplication. Oh and telekinesis...if that's what you call it."

I blinked at him. Putting up my hand in a stopping motion. "Okay, now you're just going to have to explain those."

Danny chuckled. "Okay. Ice powers. I have a cold core; that's like a ghost's heart where most of their energy comes together. Some have normal cores, some have hot cores-those are the ones who can manipulate fire. My core is cold so I can freeze things and shoot ice beams, make shields, stuff like that."

"Wow," I said, amazed.

He smirked, holding out his other hand, looking me in the eye playfully. "For example."

An ice crystal formed in the palm of his hand. Once it was done, I drew closer, peering down at it. It was beautiful, resembling a diamond with its many contours and planes. It seemed to shine in every direction.

He took his hand that was holding mine, and uncurled my fingers so that my hand was flat, palm facing up. He lightly dropped the crystal in my hand.

I felt the coolness of the surface. It was hard and smooth.

"Cool trick, huh?"

"Yeah," I smiled up at him. "Very cool."

I continued to look at the crystal in my hand, but that didn't get me side-tracked. "The ghostly wail?"

"That one," he said. "you will hopefully never have to see."

"Why?"

"Because, it is a last resort thing. It's too powerful to use."

"That bad?" I asked, quirking my eyebrow at him.

His expression grew serious. "Very. It destroys anything in it's path. Like I said, last resort."

I nodded. "But, what is it?"

"It's this wail," he smirked, "obviously. It's like sonic waves made out of pure energy. It takes a lot of energy to do; after using it, I usually feel really weak. Well, depending on how long I use it, but I've gotten better at controlling it." He looked at me steadily. "But, don't worry, no ghost has that. I only do."

"Only you?"

"Yeah," he said. He looked like he was unsure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Well, at least I thought it was a good thing. I didn't want any other ghost having this power. It sounded too dangerous. I suppressed a cringe, imagining how the human world would fair against a power like that.

"Duplication," he continued, changing the subject quickly. "I can duplicate, so far, up to four copies, but the more duplicates the weaker the copies and I are so I don't like to do it often. And, if I have to, I usually try to stick with one copy."

"Teleportation?" I continued. I rolled my eyes. "Well, I guess that's self explanatory, huh?"

He nodded. "And, then there's telekinesis or at least I think it's that."

"What do you mean by you think?"

"It's different from the textbook definition of it. I can form my energy around other objects without having to touch them. And, it can make the energy pick up the object or do whatever I want. It's kind of new so I'm still working out the kinks."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "New? I thought ghosts just get their powers all at once?"

He winced for some reason. Then, I remembered how he was different from the rest of the ghosts in the Ghost Files. He was the only ghost to grow in power levels over the years. "I don't," he mumbled, giving me a weary look.

I was getting pretty tired of him giving me those looks. I sighed. "Look, just because I know you're different, it's not like I'm going to suddenly change my mind about you. I trust you. I just hope you can maybe trust me too."

I wanted to say something more to him, like the fact that I was actually starting to fall for him, fall for a ghost. An extraordinarily unbelievable ghost.

I smiled, keeping my thoughts to myself. "Besides, I like that you're different." He didn't know that I was starting to love it. And, not just because of my thing for the unusual. I realized now that this was deeper than that. I just...I liked that he was different in such a good and pure way. He was powerful, easily could destroy anything and everything, but he chose, instead, to defend us, humans who hunt him.

He smiled slowly, looking relieved. "I like that you're different too."

He was looking at me with those intense eyes. It wasn't until now that I realized how close we were. I unconsciously looked at his lips but quickly looked back at his eyes.

He seemed to realize the same thing. There was a certain longing in his eyes. I was able to recognize it so easily because it was the same longing I felt. I wanted to kiss him. The closeness between us seemed to electrify my body, sending shivers down my spine. I remembered the texture of his face and hair from the night before, the feeling of touching him.

He was looking at me in the same way, or at least, that's what I thought.

"Sam," he whispered, drawing closer to me. I leaned in, staring at his eyes. The soft emeralds were even more alive looking like liquid fire. "I trust you."

I stared at him. I didn't really know what to think. I never really thought he would. I mean, I was a human; he was a ghost. He had tons of reasons not to trust me. But, he did...

"Thanks," I whispered, still captured by his eyes.

His hand drew closer to my face; I felt the soft touch of his fingers on my cheek.

He looked at me, trying to gauge my reaction; but there was nothing to see. I wasn't going to run and scream. Not me. He seemed to see this, making his decision.

He cautiously leaned forward, his hand still on my cheek. I leaned in, in response.

Our lips touched.

My hands flung to his face, and I leaned into him. He gripped my back with his other hand, pulling me closer to him; I could feel his muscles tighten around me. I ran my fingers through his soft hair. All I could think of was him and his lips. I parted my mouth, my tongue probing his lips. He deepened this kiss, sending my heart into overdrive.

We parted-too soon-both of us breathing heavily as we just stared at each other.

I couldn't believe what I just did. I vaguely thought that that was my first real kiss. And, it felt right. I stared at him. His brilliant white hair that always made me notice him, fiery green eyes that always drew me in with no promise of release. His strong body that I always felt safe when around me.

And, that's when I finally acknowledged it. I was falling for Danny Phantom. Harder than I've ever fallen before. And, now...

Everything has changed.

A/N: The song is by Taylor Swift ft. Ed Sheeran. Really good song, could not stop listening to it for a while. Well, that's the chapter. Now, you know why I took so long with it, really long..well for me it is. Sorry about the horrible love scene; I really suck at romance. Oh well, guess I can keep trying with the love stuff :D haha.

As for the update with my injury and (miserable) life: I started walking last week (Yay!). I'm doing okay sorta. I can't run which is just completely horrible because that is my coping mechanism for everything. Yeah. And, also, I'm addicted to running so...I'm having withdrawals. I keep dreaming about the day when my legs will be able to run again...ooh..and maybe even sprint! Ah, someday soon.-sorta soon-

Also, I will not be updating for a while because I have finals coming up and can't focus on anything else. Oh, and I'm updating Dangerous Trust this week, so I didn't abandon it.

As for your wonderful reviews, I'm really sorry I haven't been replying; but finals are coming up and I'm really freaking out about them. So don't have a lot of time. And, although I know my situation could have been a lot worse, I've been really down in the dumps lately and just completely out of it. It's hard seeing something that you worked so hard for, paid so many sacrifices and gruesome hours for, to just see it blow up in your face. But, thank you so much for all the support and your reviews are what made me motivated enough to continue this story and my others.

Thanks to:


	5. Alice

**Chapter 5: Alice**

"One of these days, I'm going to do the universe a favor and murder Paulina," I said, slamming my locker door, glaring at the girl as she flaunted down the halls, acting like she was all that; naturally, all the boys were staring at her.

Tucker spared a glance back at the unknowing girl, then turned back to the contents in his locker. "Can you murder Dash too?"

I shrugged, smirking at him. "Two for one deal."

I stared at nothing in particular, watching the moving crowds of teens as they escaped the school, heading to their homes. It was finally the weekend.

I couldn't help but think about a certain ghost. The last couple of days, Tucker and I have been meeting Danny at the same place, usually talking for hours up until curfew. He would walk us home, claiming that he wanted to make sure we got there safely. It wasn't really like we had much of a choice, but I didn't mind, knowing that it meant I could ask him to stay with me once we walked back from Tucker's house. And, he would always say yes just like the first night.

I was learning so much about him, and to my surprise, there was much more to him than just the fact that he was the town's resident ghostly hero. He was just so human, the way he acted. Even the little things seemed to just stand out, making him even more extraordinary, like the way he flashed one of his rare, brilliant smiles whenever I would walk into the room, unknowing to him, making me feel extreme butterflies. Or, how his laugh would sound so careless and free even when he was in his doom and gloom moments. How his eyes would always seem to grow brighter and alive with the rest of him becoming more animated when he was explaining a recent fight he had. He always talked with his hands as if just his words weren't enough to explain. Or, how he would cock his head to the side and scrunch his eyebrows together if he was confused by what I was saying or trying to figure something out. I even liked the way his eyes would hold this solemn intensity when he was talking about something important despite how much it would fluster and unbalance me. And, the way he seemed always so curious to hear about my day no matter how mundane it was; he would look at me in a way as if I was the most fascinating person he's ever met, making me want to talk to him. How he held me in his strong arms, sending goosebumps wherever his finger touched, his kisses caressing me...

Everything about him drew me in, leaving me wanting more. I only hoped that he felt somewhat the same about me, but I wasn't too sure. Even though, he seemed pretty open with me, I couldn't help but feel he was hiding something. I would sometimes catch him tripping over his words as if trying to fix something he had said or seeming to always calculate the best answer to some of the questions I asked. It seemed like he had a filter, picking and choosing which information to release to me.

But, I couldn't say much. It wasn't like I was telling him everything either, mainly who my father was.

Secrets or no secrets, I knew eventually they were going to come out; I just had to be patient or try to be. I really never was exactly the patient type. All in all, I couldn't wait to see him again tonight.

The sound of a slamming locker jolted me out of my thoughts. I looked over to see Tucker looking at me expectantly, gripping his backpack on his shoulder. "You ready?"

I nodded, walking with him to the entrance of the school.

Once we were on the street, where nobody could easily eavesdrop, Tucker gave me a smile. "So, we seeing Danny tonight?"

I nodded. "Of course."

"And, are you seeing him tonight, Sam?" he said, wiggling his eyebrows at me in a suggestive way.

I stopped, looking at him in shock. I could practically feel my eyes popping out of my head. "W-what do you mean?"

"Oh, I think you know exactly what I mean." He was still giving me that annoying, knowing look. When he saw that I was clearly not going to say anything, he rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, it's not that hard to guess that you two like each other. I mean, the blushing, the fact that the two of you can't seem to look away from the other even if the world decided to randomly explode." Tucker smirked, rolling his eyes again as he sang, "Lovebirds."

"What did you call us?" I managed to get out, beginning to glare at him.

"Lovebirds," Tucker stated slowly as if I was mental.

I began to walk, him following in pursuit.

"You seriously thought that I wasn't going to guess?" Tucker asked, refusing to drop it.

I peered at him. "I was hoping you wouldn't. I didn't think it was that obvious."

"It was, and I know you, Sam, so it was even more obvious."

It was silent for a while between us. I was hoping it would stay that way until we reached his house.

"So." He eyed me suspiciously. Guess not. "what exactly did you guys do?"

I groaned. "Are we seriously going to talk about this?"

"You know I'm only going to assume the worst and panic if you don't tell me," Tucker reasoned. "So please save us the drama and heart attack, and just tell me."

I stayed quiet, biting my lip. Then, slumped my shoulders in surrender, sighing. "Alright. We...kissed. Kinda a lot."

Tucker looked at me, managing to keep a neutral expression on his face, but I could still see the shock and curiosity burning in his eyes.

I rolled my eyes, already having a good idea of what he was thinking about. "Just ask already."

"What was it like? He's a ghost," Tucker said, apparently still trying to wrap his head around me having a make-out session with a ghost.

"Not what you think," I said slowly, trying to decide on how much I should actually say. But then again, it wasn't like it was a secret exactly. "He doesn't feel like a ghost."

"What do you mean?"

I looked at Tucker, knowing that it should have been obvious to him considering Danny had touched him before, whether it was giving him a high five or from being in a playful wrestling match-yes, I caught them one day in the park mock fighting each other, apparently Tucker was using cheat codes on the Doom game he showed Danny and it ended in the both of them trying to pin the other down. "You never noticed that he is warm, like our temperature, Tucker?"

Tucker's eyes widened slightly as if he was just realizing this very fact. "You're right. I guess I just never noticed it; I mean it just seemed so..."

"Normal," I provided giving him a knowing look. He nodded in agreement. "I know this sounds really strange, but he just doesn't feel dead, Tucker. I mean I've been around other ghosts, those ghosts that he saved me from; they were horrible. They were gross, cold, and just, you could just see something was unnatural about them. But, Danny, he doesn't feel like that at all. He's so alive."

Tucker grinned. "I know what you mean. Danny pretty much goes against everything we've learned in Ghost 101."

I chuckled. "I told you that class was a waste of time."

Tucker rolled his eyes. "Not really. I said that only Danny proved it wrong. The class is pretty much right about the rest of the ghosts."

I thought about the other ghosts in the alley that one night, the ones that tried to kill me. I shuddered. "Yeah."

Tucker stopped; I looked up to see that we were standing in front of his house. He smiled at me. "I'll see ya tonight, okay?"

"Yeah, okay, Tuck," I said, managing to get out of my own thoughts.

He gave me a quick wave then escaped in the warmth of his house.

I tucked my hands in my jacket, enjoying how the coolness of the air felt against my face, making me feel refreshed.

I continued to walk all the while my thoughts kept going back to Danny.

I knew I was growing a bit obsessive. I rolled my eyes to nothing in particular; I couldn't believe I was turning into one of those girls. But, here I was, thinking non-stop over a boy; but then again, Danny wasn't really a normal boy. Nothing about this was normal, so maybe I wasn't really one of _those_ girls.

I liked him; I liked him a lot. So much so that I couldn't stop thinking about him or worrying about him. So much so that I wanted to be with him, just even in his comforting presence. Yes, I finally admitted it. And, I was not ashamed of it either.

I just didn't know if he felt the same way about me.

I mean, I knew he liked me; it was easy to tell with the way he kissed me. But, I didn't know if he matched the same intensity as me. How much did he like me? That was the true question. And, I didn't want to think too much about it or try to over-read his actions and mislead myself. It was better to question it and expect that he didn't feel as strongly because then I wouldn't get my hopes up. It was better this way.

I knew I was probably sounding all dramatic about this. That whole cliché about how I don't want to get hurt. But, Danny was not the regular boy next store. He was wicked and charming and dangerous and most of all he was used to much more excitement and abnormality than I was. He fought ghosts on a daily basis, and he could do things that I only dreamed of doing. How could he possibly be that interested in me?

So, it was best not to expect so much. I figured it was better to enjoy the ride rather than wondering how and when it was going to end.

I mean it wasn't like-

A loud explosion jolted the street, making car alarms go off.

I looked frantically around me to see a puff of smoke coming from the direction I was heading, no more than a block away.

Before I could even think about what just happened, I was running. Yep, you guessed it, in that direction. I couldn't really tell you what I was thinking exactly; maybe it was a temporary moment of pure insanity or stupidity. But, I was doing it anyway.

I had a feeling of who was there in the middle of all the action, and to tell you the truth, I really didn't like the sound of that explosion. Explosions equaled ghost fights, and ghost fights equaled Danny, which meant that there was a chance that Danny might get hurt. I knew he could get hurt, despite how many times he tried to cover it up with Tucker and me; I would always catch a pained look or a tip of a bruise on his skin. It didn't go by unnoticed to either Tucker or me.

I sprinted a block, coming to a huge alley way, which seemed to be where the fight now resided.

That's when I saw him, poised in the air, smiling wickedly at the three ghosts surrounding him.

They were green vultures, dripping with sickening ectoplasm and sharp talons ready and positioned for attack at Danny.

Danny only smiled wider, not finding any threat in the birds. "You know, if Vlad really wants to get me, then, he should probably send stronger ghosts." He paused, pretending to think. "Then, again, he should just give up because I would just beat them too."

"Quit vith the vise-cracks, ghost boy," one of the birds said, narrowing his beady red eyes at the boy. "Ve can do this the easy vay or the hard vay."

Danny put on a mock expression of hurt, looking at the birds with wide green eyes. "I'm hurt, guys. How long have you known me? And, you still need to ask this question?"

Danny narrowed his eyes, looking more dangerous than he had ever. His eyes brightened as the air around him crackled with power. "When anything is involved with Plasmius, it's always the hard way."

Danny crouched, lunging with amazing speed at the ghost who spoke, driving him in to the ground with a loud crack.

He stood from the dazed bird, gripping his thermos in hand and sucking the ghost up.

The other two vultures didn't seem to like this at all. With a loud screech, they both dove down, talons extended, aiming directly for Danny's turned back.

He only smiled, jumping out of the way right in the knick of time, ending with the birds bashing their own bodies into the concrete.

They stood up shakily but weren't able to do anything before Danny sucked them up in the thermos as well.

"Since you guys like Plasmius so much that you would do his dirty work for him, I think I might leave you in there for a little while, maybe give this a shake or two when I'm feeling especially down," he said, grinning down deviously at the thermos.

I could hear screams of protests and fear coming from the thermos.

I couldn't help but chuckle at his antics but quickly covered my mouth to keep the noise from escaping.

"I know you're there," he said, looking directly at my half hidden form.

I came out from the entrance of the alley, smirking at him. "I wasn't really hiding," I told him. "Just came to see the show."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Wasn't really much. These guys," he lifted the thermos, shaking it, which caused a round of screeches from the thermos, "aren't really that hard. Bunch of bird brains."

"Hey!" the birds screeched from the inside in protests.

Danny and I stared at the thermos for a minute than looked back at each other. We both broke into a smiled then started laughing.

Once the bout of laughing at the expense of the "bird brains" trapped inside the thermos was over, he took a step closer to me, scratching his head to get the debris out of it. Pieces of concrete rained down from his mop of messy white hair. "So how did ya find me?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "The explosion was kinda obvious."

Danny chuckled, smiling crookedly at me. "Where there is an explosion, there is a Danny Phantom."

"That's the only way to find you," I laughed out.

Danny chuckled, but he stopped suddenly, stiffening.

I pulled my eyebrows together, looking at him confusedly, "Danny wha-"

"Sam!" He lunged directly in front of me so quickly I couldn't even process why he looked so scared.

But that's when I heard it. The distinct sound of something being fired. It sounded in my eardrums with a large Bam.

But, it couldn't even compare to the amount of fear that was caused by what I heard next. I heard a deafening scream as I saw Danny's body come into contact with the large missile, exploding on contact as it hit his back with driving force, sending his body towards me; he collapsed with a loud crack on the cement, skidding right at my feet.

A scream of my own was lodged in my throat, stuck there by the pure shock I was feeling.

I hurriedly knelt by Danny, my hands fluttering panicky around his body. "Danny?" I managed to say, my voice sounding foreign to me. It was filled with fear and panic. "Danny?" I said again, tears welling in my eyes. I wiped them away more harshly than was necessary.

Okay, Sam, just calm down. You have to help him, and you're not going to do that if you're panicking yourself. I took a deep shaky breath, and croaked his name out again. "Danny?"

A small groan came from him.

I let out a sigh of relief, knowing that at least he was alive-I stopped, blinking blankly at that thought, but hurriedly pushed it to the side. There were bigger things than that.

I looked over at his back, he was laying face down in the crumbled asphalt, his face-from what I could tell-scratched from the hard contact. His back was covered in one huge angry burn; the skin was already blistering; I choked back vomit, knowing that it wouldn't help if I started wretching. Some of his skin was already torn off on some parts, leaking a pretty good amount of blood...

Wait? I peered down at the strange blood. It wasn't normal green ectoplasm. I mean it was green like ectoplasm too but it also had something else in it. There were red splotches in the ectoplasm; it looked like blood, real human blood.

"Oh, Danny," I whispered, managing to get around the large lump in the back of my throat.

A looming shadow appeared over Danny and me. "That was easier than I initially thought," a deep, menacing voice said.

I looked up from Danny's fallen body.

A huge mechanical ghost with flaming green fire for hair was standing over us. He was looking down at us, smiling evilly. He was holding a huge missile launcher in one of his hands, answering who shot Danny.

My hands gripped into fists as I glared at the ghost. "Leave him alone," I warned, completely pissed off, so far gone that I didn't take time to realize that this guy was ten times my size and he was ghost.

Danny stirred, bringing my attention back to him. He groaned, struggling to get up as he squinted behind him to see who I was glaring at. "Skulker," he slurred, still trying to get up.

Skulker growled, yanking Danny up by the scruff of his neck. I stayed in my spot, too frozen to do anything out of fear the ghost might hurt Danny. He leaned in the boy's face, glaring at him. "How the hell are you still conscious?"

"Practice," Danny slurred, blood dripping from his mouth, but he still managed to give a half smirk, effectively pissing off the ghost even more.

I swear if Danny wasn't dangling from the vise-like grip of a ghost and injured to the point where I was seriously worried about him, I would have smacked him by now and told him to shut up.

"Well," Skulker growled, giving the boy another toothy grin that seriously sent shivers down my spine, "at least I came prepared."

Danny squinted up at Skulker, his hands gripping the ghost's hand around his neck feebly. He began to struggle instantly, writhing in the ghost's grip.

Skulker glared at the boy, tightening his hold on his neck. Danny let out choking sounds, his eyes widening as he stopped struggling. His hands tightened around the ghost's hand.

Skulker reached behind him, pulling out a strange looking device from his back pocket on his belt. It had to prongs sticking out from a short rod, and it had magenta lighting it as it revved to life when Skulker pressed one of the buttons on it. An electrical current sparked from in between the two prongs. I could hear the sounds of the sharp zapping from the flowing electricity.

I unconsciously took a step closer, noticing how Danny's eyes widened when he saw what Skulker had. I didn't know what I was going to do exactly, maybe attempt to hit the ghost or something but I was stopped when the ghost spoke again. "Remember this, welp," Skulker smiled down at Danny, not even bothering to acknowledge that I was still there. "Plasmius Maximus 2.0 will put you down long enough for me to get you back to the man who invented it himself."

Danny clenched his teeth from the strain of being suspended by the neck in the ghost's hold for so long, but that little fact didn't stop him from glaring sparks at the ghost. His glare seemed to become more ferocious at hearing about whoever this man was. "So Plasmius is in this after all," he hissed, although it would have been more intimidating if he didn't say it through ragged breaths.

"Of course," Skulker said, his tone sounding like he thought Danny was too stupid to figure it out on his own, "why else would you think those birdbrains would attack without him being involved. I guess they were the perfect diversion after all." That's when the ghost finally looked at me, eyeing me with threatening curiosity. "But, maybe I'm giving them too much credit."

"Hello there," Skulker said, leaning in towards me while giving me a menacing smile.

I clenched my teeth, glaring at the ghost, refusing to let him see how scared shitless I was right now.

"Leave her alone," Danny growled as he started to struggle in Skulker's grasp, his eyes becoming brighter.

"Did I hit a nerve? I know how you always want to protect everybody, ghost child," Skulker eyed Danny. "But maybe it's time to accept that you just can't."

Danny only stared at the ghost indifferently but I could still see the change in his eyes as they suddenly became stormy. But, he covered this up quickly. "Skulker are you jealous that I'm spending more time with her than you?" Danny said, smirking through the blood dripping from his mouth. "I thought we already went over this. I-"

Danny let out a choked breath as the ghost squeezed tighter. "Shut up, whelp." He glowered at Danny as he pushed the Plasmius Maximus into the teen's side. "You need to learn some respect. Let's see how much of that mouth you will have once Plasmius gets his hands on you." He switched on the device, it powering up in response, plunging it into Danny's side.

Danny let out a blood curdling scream as the electricity enveloped him, his body arching in an unnatural way. His hands were curled tighter around Skulker's hand, eyes scrunched in pain.

I stood there frozen, too shocked by the horror.

The screaming finally stopped as Danny fell limp in Skulker's grasp, looking dazed. I was finally able to shake myself from the shock, realizing that I had to do something to help-anything. But, before I could do anything, the two rings of light forming around Danny stopped me.

I froze, staring at the two rings of light travel from one end of Danny to the other; but this wasn't the most awing of the sight. Where the lights passed, a part of the boy I knew changed as well. His jumpsuit was turned into a regular pair of faded blue jeans and a plain black t-shit. The glow that normally encased his body was gone. I looked at his face as the last of the light disappeared revealing-

I gasped. Instantly recognizing the boy as the one I saw in the bookstore. His jet black hair that was as pure as his white and those blue eyes ever as striking as his green. Looking closer, I realized all of him didn't change, his face was still the same, blood, sweat and all. He was still Danny.

I looked into his blue eyes, trying to piece together what just happened; but all I could see looking back at me was horror. He stared at me, looking frightened. Complete terror filled those blue eyes of him, and he was looking at me in way as if I was threatening him. He didn't pay any mind to the ghost keeping him captive. He just stared at me, rubbing me raw, making my skin crawl with the amount of absolute panic rampaging across his face. Suddenly, I felt like more the villain than this ghost. For that moment, I knew whatever just happened was something that was never meant to be seen, never meant to be uncovered. And, I just saw everything.

And I knew he was terrified of that.

But somehow, it didn't change a thing. I still saw Danny.

I didn't realized I was breathing as heavily as Danny was until I heard my fast intakes of breath in my ears, matching my climbing heart rate. "Danny," I whispered, trying to tell him through the unfilled silence that it was okay.

A low, grating chuckle sounded; I tore my eyes away from Danny, slowly turning my head to look at the ghost. He was smiling down at me, amused at what he was witnessing. "Now, you two have officially met. Human, meet the ghost child, abomination of both the Ghost Zone and the human world."

I saw Danny wince involuntarily, but he covered it up quickly, glaring at the ghost. He began to struggle once more in the mechanical ghost's grasp, scratching at the armored hand, kicking and thrashing, doing anything he could to get free.

The ghost growled, slamming the boy violently into the ground. "Do you ever give up?" Skulker leered. "You lost, whelp."

Danny took in small breaths, staring dazedly up at the ghost. Blood-red blood-gurgled from his mouth, dripping down his face, pooling around the collar of his shirt.

I narrowed my eyes, gripping my hands into fists. At this rate, Danny would be done for and going to whoever this Plasmius guy was. And, with the way Danny was struggling, I was sure this guy wasn't a walk in the park.

I looked around me hectically for anything that could be a useful weapon, but tried to remain discreet about it. I didn't want the ghost to know what I was trying to do, but I seriously doubted he was paying any attention to me with the way he was glaring so intently at Danny. It was apparent that Skulker thought Danny was the bigger threat despite the condition and position he was in.

My eyes finally settled on the two metal, round trash-cans to my left, more specifically the metal lids that adorned them. They were only two feet away.

Not taking my eyes off the ghost, I slowly made my way to the trash-cans, trying to be as quiet as possible.

I saw Danny look over at me, once he realized I wasn't just standing there like an idiot, he gave me a questioning look, his eyebrows knitting together in the way they always did when he was confused. If he wasn't currently half conscious and battered so badly, I would have expected him to cock his head to the side like he always did to match that expression. I couldn't help but smirk; yep, despite the difference in appearance, he was still Danny. I could tell that much just by looking at his eyes.

Danny gasped harshly, trying to tell me something. He moved his head slowly from one side to the other and then, lifted his head up in the direction of the opening to the alleyway. He did the movement in a way that came off like he was just tired and couldn't control his movements, probably so Skulker wouldn't get tipped off as to what he was trying to tell me.

He wanted me to run.

I shook my head, lifting my chin up stubbornly. I gave a quick side glance to the trash-cans then looked back at him. I smirked evilly, putting my index finger to my lips.

Danny's eyes narrowed mischievously, a small grin playing on his lips. He looked back at Skulker, glaring at the ghost. "Oh, please, I didn't lose, Skulker. I'm just letting you win," Danny smiled cockily at the ghost. "It's a knew strategy I'm trying."

"You little punk," Skulker growled, he pushed Danny further into the cement. Danny gave an involuntary grimace but remained silent.

I kept edging towards the trash-cans, only mere inches from it. I slowly picked up one of the lids, getting a firm grip on it.

"Come on, Skulker, don't get your feelings hurt," Danny continued as I moved slowly towards the ghost, getting in position. "You really did give it your best shot."

"Have you finally lost your mind, child," Skulker countered, putting his face into Danny's. "Do you really think you can get yourself out of this?"

I raised the lid high above me, mustering all of my strength, ready to strike.

Danny broke out in a brilliant smile, eyes emulating. "No, but she can."

Before Skulker could even turn around fully, I delivered a powerful blow to his stupid head, putting as much strength and anger I could into the single hit.

Skulker stumbled back, clutching his head, releasing his hold from Danny.

Groaning, Danny slowly got up, a hand pressed against his stomach as he glared at the ghost intensely. He was hunched over a bit but otherwise looked pretty sturdy standing there. Blood was beginning to stain the top of his pants although he didn't pay any mind to it. He turned towards me, sporting a grin, a complete contrast with the beaten state he was in. "Nice backhand."

I smirked, remembering the past nights when I hit him with the pillow. "I had a lot of practice the past few days."

He grimaced, obviously knowing what I was talking about.

A furious roar caught both of our attention, both turning towards the now glaring ghost. "You will pay for this," he rumbled.

Danny put himself in front of me, crouching in a battle stance. "I don't think so, tin-head."

"You are powerless," Skulker pointed out with a feral look in his eyes. "No more dangerous than an average human. What damage could you possibly expect to do to a ghost like me?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised, Skulker," Danny said. I could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

With a shriek, the ghost lunged at us, but Danny seemed to have expected this. Looping his arm around my waist, he propelled us away from the attack, giving a stern look back at me, he said, "Stay safe; this will just take a second."

Danny ran towards the recovering ghost, jumping in the air and delivering a quick kick to the ghost's head, making metal protest.

He rebounded of the ghost, landing only a foot away. Before Skulker had time to recover and deliver an attack of his own, Danny did a swoop kick at the ghost's feet, making the ghost tumble to the ground with a thud.

Taking the opportunity of his opponent on the ground, the boy jumped in the air with a battle cry, jamming his foot down on one of the ghost's arms. A loud crunch sounded throughout the alley.

Skulker let out an angered cry, grabbing at the boy's feet. Danny tried to jump away but was a second off as the ghost's uninjured hand took hold of one of Danny's feet. With a surprised yelp, Danny was flung into the brick wall by Skulker.

I heard a sounding crack as Danny's head made contact with the wall first. I winced, screaming his name as I realized he wasn't getting up.

His head fell to the side limply as he finally looked up ever so slowly, blinking rapidly at the ghost stalking towards him.

Skulker lunged forward just as Danny was attempting to get up. He took hold of Danny's neck with his only working hand, lifting him up so that his feet were dangling mere inches from the ground. Danny looked down unresponsively at the ghost, still trying to get a hold of himself.

Skulker raised his other hand, which was sparking and malfunctioning; but it somehow managed to transform into a sharp, very large glowing blade. "Plasmius only gave me the order to not kill you, you little rat, but he never specified on the state I have to bring you in."

I paled, beginning to breathe heavily. I began to shake, looking around me again, trying to find something, anything! No, nothing. There was nothing but bare brick walls. "No!" I screamed, or at least I thought I did. My voice sounded wrong like it wasn't my own.

With an evil grin, the ghost brought his blade back, getting ready to strike. My eyes widened. "Danny!" I screamed, beginning to run. I had to stop it.

Suddenly, a fiery green beam passed by me, inches away from my face; I could feel the heat radiate from it as it passed. It knocked Skulker across the alley until he collided with the wall, then dropped to the ground groaning.

Stunned, I looked behind me to see where the hell that came from.

That's when I saw them. Clad in orange and blue jumpsuits, both holding huge, smoking weapons in their hands, the Fentons, world's greatest and most famous ghosthunters, stood in the opening of the alleyway.

* * *

**A/N: Fifth Chapter up! Oh yeah! Sorry it took so long. It was very long for me. And half way through, I just had this complete writer's block and was just so unmotivated to write. :/ Hopefully the chapter is somewhat decent. Thanks to all the reviewer, you guys are the reason why this story keeps going because believe it or now, I do read them and they motivate me extremely. Thanks Again! Please leave any critcism, and if you see any mistakes point them out.**


	6. Little Talks

**Chapter 6: Little Talks**

"Danny! Are you okay?" I knelt down, putting my hand on his cheek, trying to get his attention. Inwardly, I was seriously questioning how he was still conscious.

Danny groaned, but his eyes focused on me with much more awareness than I expected.

He began to get up slowly despite my protests.

I just heaved a sigh, standing too, knowing that he was too stubborn to stay down like he should.

"Why is it always the neck?" he rasped, rubbing the front of his neck tenderly. "Why can't he just blast me or hold me by the arm like what normal ghosts do?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Seriously? This is the statement that comes to mind after all that?"

He shrugged, then winced, but brushed it off quickly before I could say anything. "Maybe Skulker is just one for the dramatics," he continued.

"Speaking of dramatic," I said, looking at him meaningfully.

He winced, but this time not out of pain. He looked at me; the same horror in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but the sound of feet pounding pavement interrupted him. He glanced over at the nearing Fentons, his expression a mixture of anxiety and fear, then looked back at me quickly.

I knew what he was thinking, ghost hunters didn't really mix well with ghosts, and whatever Danny truly was, part of him was ghost somehow. I nodded, looking directly at his eyes. "We will talk later."

He looked at me steadily for a long moment, then gave me a slow nod.

The two adults finally made it over to us. I noticed Danny got startlingly pale as the Fentons came to a stop in front of us.

On a whim, I grabbed his hand, holding it tight with my own.

He looked down at me a bit startled. I smiled gently, dipping my head in a reassuring gesture. He smiled shakily at me, then looked over at the ghost hunters, looking somewhat better, the color starting to return to his face.

Maddie Fenton was the first to speak, pulling down her hood to reveal worried violet eyes. "Are you kids okay?"

I looked up to see if Danny was going to take initiative, but he stood there frozen, staring at the ghost hunters in a shocked panic.

The two were starting to eye him, probably thinking he was going into shock, and looking at how badly he was hurt. I couldn't blame them for thinking that. Diverting the attention from Danny to me, I spoke quickly. "Yeah, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, we are fine." I tried to smile as best as I could. "Good thing you were here."

Jack beamed, looking back at Danny. "Well, it looks like you didn't need us as badly!" He put a big hand on Danny's shoulder, making the boy wince subtly in response. The wince went unnoticed by both ghost hunters. The man continued, "Great moves you got there, kid! What's your name?"

I quickly intervened, not thinking that Danny could manage a coherent sentence at the moment. "His name is Danny," I said.

If I wasn't looking at Danny's face I wouldn't have seen the fear flash through his eyes. He looked down quickly at me as if to say something but was interrupted by Mrs. Fenton. "Danny?" She asked. A sadness crept into her eyes. "Our son's name was Danny," she smiled slightly, but it was more sad than happy. Then, she cocked her head to the side, "Come to think of it, you look a lot li-"

"Well, Danny, those are some really good moves you had out there!" Jack boomed, looking at Danny proudly.

Danny, on the other hand, still looked a bit unsteady, but was slowly getting a grip on himself.

Mr. Fenton got closer to him, smiling even wider with an excited glint in his eyes. "Have you ever thought of ghost hunting?"

At this, Danny broke into a smile, probably from the sheer irony of Mr. Fenton's words. "Once or twice maybe," he answered, amusement in his voice. He chuckled lightly, "But I always thought it was too dangerous."

"We can always use new people," Mr. Fenton said, as loudly as ever, "and it looks like you are a natural!"

It looked like Mr. Fenton was about to say more, but his wife intervened, putting a hand on her husband's arm. "Jack," she said in a disapproving tone, "not now. Can't you see the poor boy is hurt?"

Danny looked over at Mrs. Fenton with a pained expression, putting his hands up as if to ward her off. "Oh, no, really it's okay. It's not that bad."

Mrs. Fenton put her hands on her hips, delivering a glare that was strikingly similar to Danny's. "Oh really, well, you don't look like it's not that bad." Danny tried to protest again but Mrs. Fenton continued on. "Uh-uh, there is no way you are getting out of this, so I suggest you just come with us without us having to do it the hard way."

"I would listen to her, kid," Jack stage whispered to Danny. "Once she makes up her mind on something, she never lets go. It's best just to agree."

I crossed my arms, smirking, seems like that's one more thing Danny has in common with Mrs. Fenton.

"I..." Whatever Danny was about to say died as Maddie's determined glare intensified. He slumped his shoulders, giving in to the two adults.

Maddie broke out into a smile, quickly transitioning from the stern, unwavering huntress to a concerned mother. "Let's see," she said, grabbing the tip of Danny's chin and tilting it up. Danny gave an involuntary yelp, very surprised by her touch.

The huntress didn't pay any mind, instead evaluating him carefully. "You might have a slight concussion, considering how hard that ghost pinned you to the wall." She tilted his head, touching his bloody forehead gingerly, Danny didn't move a muscle, staring at Mrs. Fenton with wide eyes. "And, I don't think this needs stitches, but we definitely need to clean it out." She looked down, her eyes widening as she saw his very dirty and bloody shirt. "Turn around," she ordered.

"It's not that-"

"Young man, you better turn around or so help me," she said in a steely, commanding voice.

He complied, quickly turning so that his back was facing her.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, one of her hands flying to cover her gaping mouth, probably to stop whatever else she was going to say.

Jack whistled. "How the hell are you still standing, kid?"

Danny just shrugged, but obviously regretted that action, wincing from the pain it caused.

I looked over at his back, remembering how bad it was before. I knew it was bad, and it probably didn't look any batter.

Instead of the green ectoplasm mixed with bits of red, I only saw red. Bright crimson, which made me want to look away even more, probably because it looked so human now. And, it somehow managed to look even worse than before, the skin around the burn was starting to crust over with dried blood, but that didn't seem to stop it from bleed; it was already starting to drip down to his pants, staining them with angry red.

Maddie took his hand abruptly, spinning the boy around so he was facing her again. "Come on," she said, worry in her eyes. "We better treat this soon." She looked at me, scanning me with her eyes to see if I was adorning any injuries as well. After what seemed like forever, she nodded, confirming that I was okay. "You can come too, sweetie. I'm sure your boyfriend would want you to," she said, adding a small smile at the end.

I blushed brightly, looking over at Danny.

He was blushing too, looking down at the ground.

What made me blush even more was the fact that neither of us bothered to protest. I smiled at him; his eyes were still glued to the ground.

Trying to shrug off that awkward moment, I looked back at Mrs. Fenton, nodding at her.

The Fentons rushed us to the Fenton RV, which was pretty well known throughout the city, especially due to Mr. Fenton's...unique way of driving.

Danny and I sat together in the back. Danny had a big blanket draped around him in an attempt to try to stop the bleeding. He kept glancing between the two Fentons with a nervous expression on his face.

I placed my hand on one of his.

He looked over quickly as if startled, then relaxed a bit when he realized it was me.

"Are you okay?" I whispered, squeezing his hand gently.

He took my hand, squeezing it back, seeming like he wasn't even thinking about the gesture. "Yeah, I'm fine."

I eyed his exhausted and bloodied state skeptically, knowing that he was lying through his teeth; but that didn't seem to be the thing that was bothering him. He kept looking at the Fentons constantly as if he was expecting them to do something. And, I couldn't help but think it was something deeper than them being ghosthunters. After all, there was no indication that I saw that said he was a ghost or even part ghost. Even his blood didn't have a trace of ectoplasm in it.

"You sure?" I asked, my stare becoming even more skeptical.

He stopped staring at the Fentons and gave me a small, reassuring smile, but it didn't reach his tired eyes at all. "Yeah, I am."

I sighed, deciding to let him go on this. There was no point in me trying to push further with the Fentons here.

I adverted my eyes to our still joined hands, allowing myself a small smile.

We continued holding hands in silence until we came to Fenton Works, home of the highly esteemed Fentons.

"Okay, kids," Mrs. Fenton said as she opened the back door of the vehicle, delivering one of her smiles at us, "we're here. Now we can get you cleaned up."

She looked at Danny more closely, probably expecting him to put up a fuss. "And, you, mister, you will let us to treat you."

Danny allowed a small smile on his face, but he still looked on edge. He gave the huntress a slow nod, assuring her that he would do as she said.

She, then, looked over at me, her smile seemed brighter from her small victory over Danny. "And-," she stopped, an apologetic expression adorning her face, "I'm sorry, I never got your name, sweetie?"

"I'm Sam," I said, smiling at the woman.

She nodded. "Okay, Sam, can you help Danny out of the vehicle. He probably has a couple serious injuries and the last thing I want is for them to get worse."

I stood up, looking down at the still sitting Danny who seemed to be in shock over Mrs. Fenton's words, but he soon broke out of it, looking up at me. "No, really, I'm okay," he said, making a move to get up himself. He sucked in a breath, coming back down on the seat as he gripped his stomach, wincing.

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, you're the poster boy for okay. Now, let me help you."

"I thought I was the hero and you were the damsel," he looked at me levelly as if I did something wrong. "You know, you are really confusing me about the kind of relationship we have."

I looked at him levelly, seriously considering adding another bruise to his already plentiful collection. "Okay, if you weren't hurt right now, I would have seriously punched you in the gut with that whole damsel comment."

He looked at me with a faked hurt expression with a touch of defensiveness. "What? Everybody labels things these days."

"I don't like labels," I stated plainly.

"Knew there was a reason why I like you," he smiled cockily, looking more like himself. I felt as if I was talking to Phantom. I mean I knew he was Phantom, but the connection was still hard to make. After all, I knew Danny as his ghost self, as a ghost, not human. But, again, I saw just Danny, being his normally annoying but at the same time charming self. I still felt the butterflies in my stomach whenever he looked at me.

I smirked at him. "Stop stalling," I stuck my hand out. "Come on, oh brave hero."

He only smiled sheepishly back at me in that 'you gotta love me' sort of way, taking my hand so that I could pull him up.

Making sure he was putting some of his weight one me, I gripped his hand tightly and wrapped my arm around his waist, trying to avoid the burn on his back.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him. His face was carefully composed, obviously trying to hide how much pain he was in. Too bad for Danny that he was never good at hiding his emotions. He was such an open book when it came to that.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, his shoulders seemed to cave in a little as we took the first steps, walking our way over to the open door where Mrs. Fenton was standing, hand outstretched ready to help Danny as well.

He slowly eased down, feet stepping on the pavement, all the while both Mrs. Fenton's and my hands were fluttering around him, ready for him to collapse any second. But, surprisingly, despite the obvious pain he was in, Danny was handling it really well, like it was just something normal, which really didn't comfort me at all.

We made our way down to the Fenton's lab where Mr. Fenton was already setting up the medical supplies.

I looked around the room. It was a basement transformed into a high-tech lab. There were tons of cabinets and tables, some having an impressive display of beakers and test tubes while others housed futuristic looking computers all displaying some form of data or another. Weapons were laid about casually as if they were just tossed there, no more important than a second thought. Green ectoplasmic goo covered parts of random supplies, showing that the place wasn't exactly cleaned on a daily basis. And in the middle of the wall facing the entrance was the very creation that was talked about all around the world: the Fenton Portal. It was massive, huge tubes and wires connected to it. It looked menacing but harmless at the same time. This was the first and only man made door to the supernatural world known as the Ghost Zone, the source of all our problems.

I couldn't help but stare at it, wondering what it looked like on the inside. If what they said in Ghost Ed. 101 was really true, all it was, was an empty, cold, hopeless place that no human should ever step foot in.

I felt a nudge in my side. I looked up to see Danny staring at me. "You okay?" he asked, his voice husky.

I blushed, realizing that I must have looked like an idiot, staring off like that. "Yeah."

I led the way to the Fentons, who were stationed by a cleared table, the only thing on it was an impressive amount of medical supplies.

Danny sat down gingerly, gripping his stomach tightly.

"Take off your shirt, hun," Maddie said, already starting to pick up the gauze and antibiotics.

Danny complied, although he was slow when picking the shirt off of him, his movements were more rigid and stiff than he ever moved before. There was an occasional wince, but he soon go the shirt off.

"Oh my," Mrs. Fenton gasped.

I felt my stomach do nauseating flips at the sight of his torso.

Deep purple and blue bruises spotted around the obviously broken ribs and the skin around them was already an irritated red. His arms were covered in small scratches and minuscule bruises along with some dirt mixed in. I didn't need to see his back to know what it looked like, and I didn't have any desire to look again either. Twice was good enough for me.

"That was very reckless of you," Mrs. Fenton said, beginning to rub the antibiotics on his back, trying to prevent any infection. "You should have called the GIW or even us. Engaging in a fight with a ghost is dangerous."

"I didn't have a phone," Danny said, looking straight ahead.

Mrs. Fenton pursed her lips, taking the gauze and started bandaging his torso. "You are one of the lucky ones."

"Aw, Mads, that's not luck; did you see the moves this kid had? He was a natural out there," Jack said, ruffling Danny's hair as he beamed down at him. I couldn't help but smile at the hunter's antics.

Danny chuckled. "I think it was a mixture of both," he said, easily joining in with Mr. Fenton.

"Well, still, next time, be careful," Mrs. Fenton said, but you could tell she was starting to waver to Jack's good spirits. She allowed herself a smile. "But, that was very good technique you showed, Danny."

"Take that as a compliment, kid," Mr. Fenton winked. "That's coming from a ninth degree black belt."

"Don't let that go to your head," I said, taking my place next to him as Maddie was finishing her work.

Danny smiled over at me. "Please, when has anything ever gone to my head?"

I smirked. "Oh, I'm pretty sure there were a number of times."

"Sam, that hurts." He looked at me with a wounded expression.

"I'm sure you can survive."

Mr. Fenton chuckled as Mrs. Fenton gave him a knowing look. I could have sworn I heard them mutter something about lovebirds but I wasn't really paying attention, instead having a stare-off with a Danny. His kicked puppy expression was already overpowering me.

"Well," Mrs. Fenton said, getting both of our attention, "I think that will hold you." She patted Danny's newly bandaged torso, smiling at us.

"Thanks," Danny said, already starting to slide off the table.

"Hey, Danny!" Mr. Fenton exclaimed, wrapping an arm around the unsuspecting boy. "Want to check out some of the inventions. We even have a weapons vault."

"Jack!" Mrs. Fenton reprimanded.

"Aw, come on Maddie, don't tell me you can't see the potential too," Mr. Fenton all but whined.

"He is only a boy."

Mr. Fenton looked at Mrs. Fenton with a pleading expression, looking a lot like how Danny was looking at me a minute ago...

Hey, come to think of it, they kind of looked alike. The same strong jaw and blue eyes-although Danny's were a lot brighter-but they had the same expression in them, the same innocent and carefree glint. And, although Mr. Fenton's hair was peppered with grays, it was obvious to see it was the same midnight black as Danny's.

I looked over at Mrs. Fenton, searching for the similarities without even giving thought to the reason why that was already forming in my head. The similarities were less noticeable in her. Danny had the same regal nose as her, but the rest was internal. They had the same fiery protectiveness in their stances and tone as though nothing was going to stop them from protecting the ones they loved. And, they shared that same stubborn determination that seemed to always be present with them, coating them like a layer of fine paint.

I could feel my breathing become ragged. No... It can't be.

But the way they all looked alike and even acted alike...

As if they were.

The Fentons were his...

No.

That's impossible, right?

But, they did have a son...

Yeah, a son that died!

But still...

His name was Danny too.

"Oh my god," I whispered, staring at the sheepish Danny who was stuck in between the two Fentons-his parents.

Danny seemed to be the only one who heard me, his head whipping to look at me, all his attention on me.

I didn't really know what he saw in my face, but he seemed to have pieced at least some of what I was thinking together.

We stared at each other for a long second. I still wasn't able to close my mouth. This was just too big of a discovery. Too big to just play it off like everything was fine. I could feel myself begin to lose composure, beginning to shake all over. Maybe it was the shock from finding out the ghost I was beginning to fall for was actually human, maybe that combined with this is what really did me over, making me start to have the proper reaction I should have experienced in the alleyway.

He seemed to see this in me, his eyes widening, probably looking just as stricken as mine.

He quickly came to his senses, gathering his expression so it looked like everything was fine, something that I just couldn't bring myself to do at the moment.

He looked at the adults in front of him, who were still bickering on whether or not he should fight ghosts.

"Um," he interrupted, grabbing both of the ghosthunters' attention. "Im really sorry, but Sam and I have to go."

He smiled nervously at the adults, obviously struggling to keep a normal expression on his face.

Mrs. Fenton smiled at him, seeming not to notice. "Okay, sweetie. Just be careful."

Danny nodded, hurriedly grabbing my hand, rushing me to the stairs. I followed without even hesitating to dazed from the discovery to even care that he was practically dragging me.

"Hey, Danny," Mr. Fenton called out, his voice booming from behind us. "You will come back right? I would like to show you some techniques. I have a feeling you will be an excellent ghost hunter!"

I didn't need to turn back to know there was a big smile on the man's face.

Danny glanced back, but I could tell he wasn't really paying attention. "Yeah, sure, another time. Bye!"

Not waiting a second longer, he zoomed up the stairs with me unwillingly behind him, it was all I could do not to trip and fall with how fast he was propelling us through the house.

We ran through the kitchen, heading towards the door. "I promise," he said gripping the knob to the front door, "I will explain-

He was interrupted by the door being thrust open, startling us both, making us jump back.

We stared wide eyed at the entrance to the house to see Jazz Fenton standing there, staring at both of us in surprise.

"Jazz!" Danny exclaimed, looking at the older girl with a self-incriminating expression on his face.

"She was..." I trailed off, beginning to remember that day at the bookstore, where I first saw this Danny. "At the bookstore. You were there too." This couldn't be a coincidence; that these two knew each other. There was no way. "Then, it must be, that means it must be true."

Danny turned his blue eyes towards me, panic brimming in the blue depths that reminded me so much of his other eyes. "You know?" he breathed.

"Know what?" Jazz said, speaking for the first time.

Danny was silent, just staring at me.

I couldn't say anything. This was just too... It was too overwhelming. If he was really who I thought was then that means...Oh god. Did his parents know? Know that their son was still alive?

Jazz appeared by Danny's side suddenly, looking up at him through narrowed eyes. "Danny," she warned, her glare intensifying. "What's going on?"

"She knows," Danny said, finally tearing his eyes away from me to look at his...sister.

"I know," I confirmed, also choosing to look at her.

Jazz threw her hands up, frustrated. "Okay, I get it that she knows, but what is going on?! What does she know, Danny?"

"Everything," Danny confirmed with a small nod, giving Jazz a meaningful look.

Jazz gasped, her eyes growing huge; she turned slowly to look at me.

I smiled sheepishly, a little uncomfortable with the way she was looking at me.

"She knows about Vlad Masters?" Jazz breathed, her head whipping back to Danny.

Danny's face fell, his eyes brightening to an emerald green, showing a glimpse of Phantom, the Danny I was used to seeing.

"No," he growled.

"Danny!" Jazz reprimanded in an older sisterly tone, her eyes narrowing. "You have to tell her. It's too dangerous. If she knows everything else, then she has to know this."

"Jazz," Danny said, barring his teeth, "I was going to explain everything, including Vlad and his fruitloopy ways."

"Danny, this is serious," Jazz said back, giving her brother a look, "stop calling Vlad a fruitloop."

"Hey," he protested, giving Jazz a look of his own, "I'm just calling it like it see it."

Jazz huffed, crossing her arms, muttering something about irresponsibility and stubborn brothers.

Danny shot Jazz a glare, preparing to say something to his sister.

"Wait, wait," I held up my hands in a stopping motion, still trying to figure out what the hell Vlad was doing in this conversation. "Vlad? As in Vlad Masters, the billionaire and leading supplier of ghost tech research?"

Jazz nodded as Danny's face darkened even more at the mention of the man.

"Whoa, this just keeps getting more and more complicated," I said, staring at the two siblings.

"Tell me about it," they both said.

"Okay, now that's just creepy," I stated, staring at the two.

* * *

**A/N: Okay I know this is so late but I can't help it, haha. So anyway, I realized I didn't explain why the last chapter was named Alice, it's a song by Avril Levine. Basically, it's about Alice in Wonderland. It just fit with the chapter because Sam's whole world just turned upside down. And, as for the name for this chapter's name, Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men. Such a good song, beautiful duet, and the lyrics are great.**

**Well, until next time, hope you guys like it!**


	7. Demons

**Chapter 7: Demons**

_When you feel my heat_

_Look into my eyes_

_It's where my demons hide_

"I still don't know what's going on." Jazz said, staring at the both of us, but mainly at Danny. "Why are you here; why didn't Mom and Dad recognize you?" She paused, looking at her brother with more scrutiny in her eyes; a confused expression dawned her face. "And, is that blood on your jeans?"

Danny put his hands up in front of him as if to ward off his panicked sister. "Whoa, one question at a time please."

Jazz crossed her arms, unfazed by Danny's attempt at humor, glaring at her brother. "Explain."

"In short," Danny looked at Jazz levelly, "Skulker attacked, Sam was there, he shot me with some gun thing- or I think it was a bazooka, you know Skulker and his guns, his many many gu-"

"I thought this was the short version," Jazz interrupted, giving her brother a knowing smile.

"Oh, right," Danny said, a small smile forming on his face. "Anyway, he used the Plasmius Maximus 2.0 on me. Hate that thing."

"2.0? He made a new version?" Jazz asked. Jazz's eyes widened, "That means that-"

"Yeah new and improved," Danny quickly interrupted whatever Jazz was about to say. "I'm guessing the effects will last longer."

Jazz narrowed her eyes at her little brother, but anyone could clearly see how worried she was. Although I didn't see exactly why. "And, I'm guessing you changed back in front of Sam, then our obsessive parents came to the rescue. Immediately after right?" Her voice hitched up at the end as if she was talking to a little kid, trying to get them to tell the truth.

"Yep, pretty much," Danny said cheekily, smile still in place.

Jazz rolled her eyes; then, she turned towards me. "Is that really what happened, or did this dweeb try to fight Skulker without his powers while injured?"

"Uh," I said, not really knowing what kind of answer Danny wanted me to give.

Apparently, that was answer enough. Jazz turned towards Danny, anger in her eyes, swiftly smacking the back of Danny's head. Danny let out a yelp. "You idiot, why didn't you run away? You know who must have been behind the attack if the Plasmius Maximus was used," Jazz all but screamed, still managing to keep her voice low enough so the Fentons wouldn't hear her.

"Hey!" Danny said, rubbing the back of his head where Jazz hit him. "I had the situation perfectly under control."

"Uh-huh." Jazz gave him a disbelieving look.

Danny only smiled at her, trying to look innocent.

Jazz's expression softened, melting into worry. "You seriously need to be more careful."

"I'm fine, Jazz," Danny reassured her with a wave of his hand, "besides, I had Sam and her killer backhand to protect me."

I rolled my eyes but chose not to address that comment, instead thinking of something else they said that was bothering me. "Jazz said somebody else was behind the attack. What does she mean by that?"

Jazz and Danny exchanged looks, both of them having various expressions of worry and anxiety, but Jazz looked more anxious while Danny looked more pissed off.

"We'll talk later, okay Jazz, not right now," Danny said.

"Just, please, next time try to have a little more self preservation," Jazz muttered, but both of us could hear her loud and clear.

Danny only heaved a sigh.

Jazz mirrored him. Both siblings looked solemnly at one another. I could tell this wasn't the first time they had this kind of argument.

"So, is somebody going to explain or are we going to just keeping standing here, staring at each other?" I said, letting some of my annoyance seep into my tone, I didn't like being left in the dark, especially with the information I had being so confusing already.

Danny looked at me, then back at Jazz.

Jazz just stared back him.

They seemed to be silently communicating with each other in some weird sibling way that an only child like myself couldn't understand.

Jazz nodded, her features set.

Danny smiled, looking over at me. "I will explain everything," he said. He looked around, as if noticing for the first time where we were. His expression became apprehensive. "But not here. It's not really the best place. How 'bout at my place?"

"Your place?" I asked, confusion in my voice.

Danny only smiled. "Come on."

He took my hand, leading me out of the front door, to the sidewalk.

I looked over to see Jazz on the other side of Danny, walking in time with her brother. She was giving him worried side glances every now and then. Either Danny was ignoring her or didn't notice, but knowing first hand how clueless he could be, it was probably the latter.

We continued walking down the sidewalks of Amity, hardly anybody was out. Only a couple of the town's citizens were spread out, going about their daily business, but all in all, the sidewalks were mostly clear of pedestrians.

I kept looking around me at the people, feeling as if they should be staring at us. The supposedly dead Fenton who had been talked about around the town was standing right here in front of them, and none of them knew. None of them barely glanced our way. It was chilling because I used to be one of them; I used to be ignorant of this whole other world that was going on right here in the town I lived.

"So, you have a place?" I asked, still trying to see how this happened. I tried to imagine the kind of house Danny would live in, but came up short, having a hard time picturing it.

I could feel his hand rise up, bringing mine with it, as he shrugged. "Yeah, Jazz helped me out. She was able to scrounge up some money to fix it up without our parents noticing."

"What do you mean not noticing?"

"We are not exactly poor," Jazz intervened. "Our parents work all around the world, wanted by all nations to help them with the ghost problems. They have a lot to spare and wouldn't notice a small dent being taken out, since they are already so busy with their ghost hunting and don't really take the time to manage the money."

I nodded; it made sense, after all, the Fentons had to be making a lot, considering how much in demand they were. "So this place, how did you find it. Did you buy a house or something?"

"Well, it's a house," Danny said, smiling to the point where he was almost laughing. "But, we didn't exactly buy it. It was being haunted by this ghost. Nobody went around it for years because of the haunted problem." Danny let out a chuckle. "Wasn't really much of a problem though. It was just the Box Ghost. Once we got him in the Ghost Zone, the house was free. Nobody wanted it, so Jazz and I decided it would be perfect for me, just to hide out there."

"We had to fix it up a bit though," Jazz said, wrinkling her nose, "the place was a mess."

"Why hide out? Why not just live with your parents?" I asked.

"Well," Danny said, giving me an uneasy look, "it's not really that simple. Even if they didn't notice my... condition, there are some other things stopping me."

"One of them being that you are supposed to be dead?" I asked, but it came out more as a statement. The story that circulated around the town for days after his "death" replayed over and over in my head: Daniel Fenton, age 13: Lab accident having something to do with ghosts, Cause of Death: electrocution, died in the hospital.

I saw his strong jaw tighten, the muscle becoming more defined. "Yeah, that's one of the things."

"We figured it would just be better if he laid low since the situation was already complicated enough and-" she stopped, hesitantly, seeming to pick the words she was about to say carefully, "a lot happened. Bringing Mom and Dad into it would have just been more stressful during that time."

"So you decided to keep them in the dark about all this," I said, trying to make sense out of why they would do that.

"Yep, pretty much," Danny said, the tension releasing from his jaw.

"Wait a minute," I said, looking at him questioningly. "How come they didn't recognize you? Thirteen is not that far away from seventeen."

He scratched the back of his neck, smiling. "I was a lot scrawnier back then."

"Not to mention shorter," Jazz commented, her hand extended-she had to get up to her tippie-toes to reach it- up to his hair to mess it up affectionately. "But still a bit scrawny," she teased.

"Hey!" he protested, batting away her hand playfully.

"It's your fault; I still have to remind you to eat."

"That's because it's kinda hard to fight ghosts and eat a sandwich all at once," he crossed his arms. "I know I'm talented but..." he paused, thinking. "Wait a minute, I'm gonna try that."

A devilish grin spread across his face.

"No," Jazz and I said at the same time, glaring at him.

Danny only smiled, not giving us any reassurance.

"It would be nice if you _don't_ get yourself killed," Jazz said, flicking his head. "Little brother."

Danny rolled his eyes. "I've succeeded so far."

"Barely," Jazz quipped, crossing her arms, but a smile was playing on her lips as she looked at her brother with amusement in her deep blue eyes. In that instant, I could see the family resemblance, she was almost an exact replica of Maddie Fenton, the same soft bone structure and confident smile, the same fiery red hair, but it was much longer, drawn in a loose side braid with a couple strands hanging loose, framing her face. She was wearing a simple black long sleeve that hung tight to her frame, blue skinny jeans, cuffed at the bottom, and black ballet flats. A brown leather messenger bag was hanging across her body from one shoulder. She was more petite than Mrs. Fenton as well, not having the same curves as her mother, looking more lanky like Danny; but she was still just as pretty as Mrs. Fenton.

"Jazz, that really hurts," Danny said, pouting. "I like to think that I'm pretty good at staying alive. You're really bruising my ego here."

"I think you will get over it," Jazz said, knocking her elbow into Danny's arm playfully. "Besides, I'm pretty sure the big hero's ego is big enough to suffer a small blow."

"Only you can manage to compliment me and insult me in one sentence," Danny said, still pouting at his sister.

"That's what sisters are for," Jazz smiled.

I couldn't help but laugh at Danny's expression. "I think she got you there."

"True, but just wait until I tell you about everything, including the times Jazz tried to help me fight ghosts," Danny looked over at his sister, smiling menacingly at her.

"You are so annoying," Jazz all but growled, crossing her arms, and looking away from her brother's threatening stare.

"That's what brothers are for." Danny smiled.

"To drive their sisters insane?"

"I like to think I do my job pretty well," Danny said.

"You do it way to well," Jazz said, eyeing her brother. "One of these days you are going to make me go into cardiac arrest with all the stunts you pull."

I smiled, enjoying the banter between the two siblings. I looked up from them, to see we were at the entrance to the park. I raised an eyebrow at the sight. "Why are we here?"

Danny looked at me, a smile gracing his features. "The house is behind the woods dividing it from the park. It's the only real entrance, since everybody forgot about it."

I looked up at the huge sign in iron carving connected to the iron archway, indicating we were at the entrance to the park, the very place I had my first real conversation with Danny, when everything was so much simpler. It seemed like it was so much longer ago than just a week and couple a days.

"Well, I better turn back," Jazz said, breaking the momentary silence between the three of us. She looked up at Danny, giving him a soft smile. "You know how Mom and Dad are. Besides, I have a paper to work on."

"It's probably not due until a couple weeks," Danny said, giving his sister a knowing smile.

Jazz punched him lightly. "Not everybody procrastinates and works on a project last minute." She gave him a meaningful look, but Danny only rolled his eyes in reply.

Jazz hugged Danny, giving him a squeeze before letting him go. "Be careful, and I will see ya later, okay?"

Danny nodded. "I will."

Jazz looked over at me, smiling. She stuck her hand out towards me, "It was nice meeting you, Sam."

I took her hand, shaking it, a smile slowly growing on my face. "Nice meeting you too."

Jazz nodded before turning to walk away, giving us a wave as she began to round the corner back to her house.

Danny and I both waved back before turning towards the park, walking in the direction of the woods.

"I like her," I said, as we reached the outskirts of the woods, beginning to walk deeper into them.

"Yeah, she's pretty great even for an annoying, overprotective big sister." Danny said, but I could tell by his tone he was joking about the annoying part.

"So she was the one that helped you through all of this?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Danny said. He looked at me, seriously. "I really don't know where I would be without her. I might joke about how crappy of a ghost hunter she was in the beginning and how overprotective she can be, but really, she does a lot for me. And, I'm glad she knows everything; I wouldn't have been able to get through this without her."

I smiled at him. "I'm glad you did get through it. But, whatever that was, it seemed like a pretty big thing. Do you mind explaining to me now? How all this happened."

Danny's expression turned grim, he looked forward, then back at me, making a gesture in front of him. "Let's get inside first."

I looked in direction he was referring to, only to stop, staring at the huge house among the shrubbery and numerous trees. It was old fashioned looking, having a wrap around porch. The paint was peeling off and some of the wooding on the porch was cracked and damaged, but the structure of the two story house still looked pretty amazing.

I walked ahead, still staring at the house as it grew nearer, towering over me until I was on the porch, already at the front door. I looked down to see a clean rug in front of it, but that wasn't the thing that struck me as odd. In neat scripted print, the rug said, _Home Sweet Home_.

I looked over at Danny questioningly, who was standing right beside me.

H smiled goofily, scratching the back of his head, making strands of onyx stick up. "You have to admit it's pretty funny."

I rolled my eyes. "Hilarious."

"Yeah, Jazz didn't think it was that funny either," he sighed as if hurt by this.

He dug a key out of the front of his jeans pocket, and plunged it into the keyhole, turning it until a resounding lock was heard. He opened the door wide for me, allowing me to go in first.

I stepped into the house, not expecting the sight I saw at all. It just looked run down. It wasn't furnished, there were cracks in the walls and floorboards, even the huge stair case that was in front of us looked worn although some new pieces of wood were placed on an occasional step. There wasn't even any proper lighting. I was only able to see due to the light coming through the broken windows, streaming down, revealing just how torn the place looked.

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking," Danny said from behind me, taking my hand, "but I don't live down here. Upstairs is better."

He guided me up the stairs; only one lone door met us at the top. He twisted the knob, opening it.

An exact opposite sight greeted me, a complete contrast to what was downstairs. While the ground floor was dark and gloomy, his room was huge and open, no walls, no other doors, just openess. The light streaming from the clean, solid windows added a brightness to the room, making it look even more comfortable and inviting.

It looked as if all of the walls were broken down, making it into one big room, the only one upstairs. There were two doors off to the side, one of them being the one we came through. There was a kitchen on one side directly opposite from a living room area and on the other side of the room was set up as a bedroom.

It was definitely something I wasn't used to seeing, no walls hiding the rooms behind them, just honest space, showing every inch of what Danny lived in.

"I like it," I said with a smile.

He smiled back, taking me to the kitchen area. "Hey, are you hungry?" he asked as he walked over to the fridge. It had a single sink next to it with a small cabinet on the other side of it. A couple of drying dishes were on the countertop of it.

"Yeah," I said, my stomach growled, as if reminding me that I haven't eaten since lunch.

He got out two bottles of water, putting them on the small table in front of the little make-shift kitchen area. Two chairs were stationed at the table; I sat in one, watching Danny search his fridge.

I took the opportunity to get a good look around the huge room while he was busy. The other door I saw was probably a bathroom along side the door we came in.

The furniture was simple. On the opposite side of where I was sitting, there was a bed, big enough to easily fit at least two people; the blue comforter and white sheets tangled into one big mess, unmade; a black laptop was sitting on the end of the bed, closed. A single nightstand was beside the bed, with only a thermos and an alarm clock occupying it, iPod headphones were dangling out of the nightstand's drawer, which was slightly open. On the wall facing the bed stood a big, white wood chester-drawer set, some of the drawers open, overflowing with clothes that were neglected to be put away properly. Clothes and random books among other objects littered the floor around this area.

Across from the kitchen area was a small black couch, facing the TV on the table by the wall. The TV was a decent size but not overwhelmingly big. The couch looked almost brand new, showing barely any worn from being sat on. I guess Danny didn't really have a lot of leisure time.

Off to the side, the last part of the room, in the corner near the two doors was a washer and dryer with an overflowing hamper in front of them.

There weren't really any decorations or pictures on the walls or table tops, the normal things you would see in a house, stuff that symbolized the home was lived in. No, the room only showed that it was a means to an end, somewhere Danny could sleep, eat, and stay. But, it still looked like Danny, even in the small things like the littered clothes and tangled sheets.

I heard a thump as if something was hitting the table I was at. I looked down, seeing a bright red apple in front of me. Danny had a sheepish smile on his face, rubbing the back of his head. "This was all I could find, I know you're a vegetarian. I'm sorry; I really don't have a lot right now, just sandwich meat and some fruit. If you want, we could go grab something to eat."

I shook my head, smiling at the fact that he remembered I was a vegetarian. Usually, I had to remind people at least twice. "No, this is fine." I took the apple, taking a bite out of it.

He smiled back at me. Then, started taking the meat and pieces of bread, forming a sandwich on the napkin in front of him.

Once he was done, he plopped down on the chair across from me, taking a bite out of his sandwich. I noticed his movements were a little more careful then normal, but I chalked that up to the broken ribs and burn on his back.

"So, I guess I'm going to have to start explaining, huh?" he said, looking the most uneasy I've ever seen him before.

"It would make everything less confusing," I said, trying to sound casual about it.

Danny sighed, looking down at his half eaten sandwich. "Well, I really don't know where to start-

"How about the beginning," I interjected, smiling at him.

He rolled his eyes, but a smile was on his face. "I guess I'm just a bit hesitant to tell you; I mean it's kinda crazy, and I'd never told anybody before-well, except for Jazz but not nearly as much." He paused, now looking up at me. "But, after all this, with my parents and Skulker, I know I can trust you. I mean you kept my secret without even knowing what it was." His expression turned stormy as he looked at me with more intensity in his eyes. "The only thing is do you want to know everything? It's dangerous, and it's not the kind of life you want to get pulled into. You can back out now if you want to, and I wouldn't hold it against you at all. There's more to this than just putting the Box Ghost in the thermos."

I glared at him. "You really think I will back out? Danny, this might be a shocker, but I care about you, and there is no way I'm going to just leave you. So stop with the dramatic staring and hero complex and tell me what happened."

Danny smirked, but it soon fell; his expression grew unreadable, almost detached. "Okay, so the beginning." He confirmed, the muscle in his jaw constricting as he worked to find the right words. "Well, I guess it all started with the Fenton Portal, the one you saw in the lab. When it was first being built, I was thirteen at the time, but you already knew that. They built the portal to the Ghost Zone; it was a whole big deal because it was mainly meant to control the amount of ghosts that were coming into our world and to provide somewhere to dispose of them since ghosts are nearly impossible to destroy-too many resources were needed.

"After almost 6 months working on it, the portal was ready to be turned on, but when my parents did, nothing happened." Danny frowned, a tinge of sadness in his eyes. "I still remember the look on their faces, everything they were working for, all that research, and nothing. Nothing happened. So, the day after, I decided to take a look in it. It was mostly out of curiosity but I guess some part of me wanted to see if I could fix it. So a walked in, I must have pressed something, but the next thing I knew, the whole machine was turning on and I was inside of it. All I really remember was being in pain and then somehow waking up outside of the ghost portal with my parents looking down at me, looking worried out of their minds."

I looked at him, shocked. "How did you? You were inside of that thing?" I stopped, thinking of the green vortex I saw within the portal. "That means the whole Ghost Zone was practically..." I trailed off, not being able to finish what I was thinking. It was just too terrible to imagine, let alone say.

"Was electrocuted into me," Danny finished. "It didn't feel too good." He paused, looking me in the eyes. "The accident made me half ghost. Half human, half ghost. The ectoplasm from the accident must have changed my DNA somehow, making me like this."

"So you can turn from human to ghost and back?" I asked, still trying to understand.

"Yep," Danny said. "Although my ghost form still shows signs of being half human. Just like how I can use some of my powers when I'm human, when I'm a ghost, I still need to breathe, still have a heart beat-little things that a lot of people wouldn't notice if they didn't get too close."

"That's why I saw ectoplasm in your blood when you changed and the other way around when you were a ghost." I deducted.

He nodded.

"So what happened after the accident?"

He looked at me with a hesitant expression. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy. After all, he was talking about how his life practically fell apart, but that didn't stop me from saying what I was about to say next. "You promised to tell me."

My voice was gentle. It was all I could do to help ease him into this. But, I had to know. I had to know what he went through. I didn't want him to be a mystery anymore, a boy filled with secrets. I wanted to know his secrets because if I did then maybe I would truly know him.

He sighed, looking to the side so he didn't have to look at my eyes. There was a long silence; right when I thought he wasn't going to talk, he spoke. "I... When the accident happened, my parents took me to the hospital because I had a couple of burns on me, and I guess they were scared. I was electrocuted after all," he paused. I could see the tension working in his jaw. "When I was in the hospital, Vlad Masters was the first to see me, even before the doctors... I don't know how, but he did. Somebody on the inside must have told him. He saw that I was like him-what the accident did to me-I was half ghost." He barred his teeth, eyes narrowing just a bit. "He took me, telling my parents and the town that I was dead. He took me to his house and told me he was my new f-father. He wanted to make me exactly like him."

"What did you do?" I asked, not being able to help myself.

He smiled bitterly, "Naturally, I didn't cooperate at all. He was pissed, and let's just say most of the time I spent there wasn't pleasant." He looked directly at me, holding me with his icy blue gaze, having the same affect on me as his unearthly green stare. "He kept me captive for a year. I couldn't control my powers for a good two months of that time, so escaping wasn't even an option in the beginning. I couldn't even function properly. When I started get some control my powers, that's when he locked me up, making sure I couldn't use my powers to get away."

He stopped, looking down, but then back at me, searching my face for something. "I should probably just tell you the whole story because I know what you're going to ask next." He grinned but the light in his eyes dimmed fast as his voice became grim. "I realized the only way I could get out was to stop fighting him. To cooperate. It took him a while to even accept that I wanted to be his son," he grimaced momentarily; I'm assuming he didn't like to even refer to himself in such a way with Vlad, even if he was pretending. "But, he did eventually until that night... He wanted me to do something I just couldn't do."

I drew closer to him, gripping his fisted hand, trying to smooth it out. "What did he want you to do?"

He looked directly in my eyes, with a solemn, pained expression. "He wanted me to kill my dad," he choked out. "He said it would be the official way to renounce him. I refused but this time when he tried to...-I was able to fight back. I got out thanks to dumb luck."

He shook his head as if he was reprimanding himself. "I was barely alive when Jazz found me."

I couldn't even process for a second. There were so many things... Vlad Masters, the town mayor, was half ghost along with Danny. And, he...kidnapped Danny. I couldn't even put into words what I felt at that moment: anger, sadness, sympathy. I was angry that Vlad would do something so terrible to him, especially to someone as good as Danny. I know I only knew him for a short time, but I knew him well enough to say that he definitely didn't deserve that at all. Not anybody, especially Danny. I was sad because I didn't like seeing him this way, so distraught. This was the first time ever that I really saw the raw pain Danny was feeling; it was clear this was hard for him, to be torn from his family for so long, to not even have any friends to support him. He's been so alone... And, that's when my sympathy kicked in. I wanted to take away the pain; I wanted him to know that he had somebody supporting him. After all he did, he deserved to at least have more than one person there for him.

And, then, that's when I felt the complete awe. He was half ghost. I already saw the transformation, but now that it had an actual identification, a name, it was even more unbelievable. He was human too. He was given ghost powers; and instead of following Vlad, he chose to protect us, the world. I'm pretty sure I'm talking to the bravest and purest person I'd ever met.

I couldn't even say anything; all I could do was just stare.

He seemed to take my silence in a different way. He adverted his eyes down, looking at the wood floors, wearing an expression of shame. "Look, I know what you are thinking, and I understand. This is a lot, and now, I put you in danger too. I'm sorry. And I'm sorry I'm like," he looked down at himself disgustedly, gesturing toward himself, "_this_."

He then looked at me pleadingly. "But, please, you can't tell anybody. I promise to leave you alone, to never bother you or put you in danger ever again."

It took me a minute to process what he was saying. Did he actually think that I never wanted to see him again? Did he really think that him being different would repel me so strongly?

I looked at him. His breathtaking, crystal blue eyes were staring back at me. There was such a deep pain within them, showing everything that he went through; but they were still beautiful. I couldn't take my eyes off of him; they still held me the way they did when I was staring at his other eyes.

Before I knew it, or even thought about it, my body was crushing against his, grabbing his jaw so that I could kiss him. I kissed him, my lips melding around his, into his with more passion than I ever felt. I gripped his jaw harder, bringing him into me. I wanted to feel him against me, to feel his strong body, to be aware of him; but most of all, I wanted him. I just wanted him.

He put his arms around me, gripping my back with a strong intensity. He pulled me in, deepening the kiss, his tongue dancing with mine. My other hand raked through his hair, indadvertedly gripping it.

He pulled me deeper into his hold until I could feel his defined chest against my breasts, making the butterflies in my stomach grow until they spread across my body, sending shivers of pleasure and desire throughout me.

We soon had to part due to lack of air, but we remained in our positions, bare centimeters apart, staring into each other's eyes, the only sound was our heavy breathing coming from our heaving chests.

Finally, he said, "I don't understand. You still want to be with me even after..." He trailed off, looking at me hesitantly, the same pained loneliness returning to his eyes.

"Why would that make a difference?" I breathed. Then, a slow smile grew on my face. "It just makes you even more amazing."

His eyes brightened, making his icy blue orbs melt into warm, liquid sea blue. He took hold of my face, giving me another long, seductive kiss.

My smile grew when he finished. Peering up at him, I said, "Besides, you can't get rid of me that easily. You're stuck with me."

He smirked at me, "I think I'm more than okay with that."

A sharp ringing tone caught both of our attention; I felt the buzz of my phone in my front jeans pocket. Standing, I took out the phone, looking at the screen. "It's a text from Tuck," I quickly opened it. "It says, are we still meeting up?"

I looked down at Danny, who was still sitting comfortably on the chair, leaning back with one long leg tucked underneath and the other extended out, smiling up at me. "Are we?" I asked.

His expression dampened, the smile disappearing. He put both hands on his head, raking his hair back in a stressed gesture. "I wish, but we can't. I can't go ghost."

"Because of that thing the ghost used on you?"

"The Plasmius Maximus. It cancels out my powers for three hours, making me completely human, but I'm guessing since it's the 2.0 version it is longer, probably doubled that time." He paused with a quizzical expression on his face. "You know, in a weird way, I guess it's kinda lucky that it was used on me; I don't think I would have been able to step foot in my parents' house without some alarm or invention going off." He rolled his eyes, acting as if it was more of an annoyance than a threat.

I nodded, not really thinking about the last comment but of what the ghost said, about how it would be easier to deal with him after he used the device. He also said something about the man who made it, and how Skulker was going to take him. "So the ghost vultures and Skulker, why did they want to take you?"

Danny winced, but I could see the corners of his mouth become strained as his eyes narrowed. "Vlad Masters, also known as Vlad Plasmius."

"He was behind that?" I asked, not realizing that Vlad was still pursuing Danny even after all these years.

"Yep," Danny confirmed, "he is usually behind most of the attacks in Amity Park; he has a lot of ghost minions. I've been able to ruin his plans so far, but they've always been close calls. Vlad has twenty years of experience as a halfa over me, and it doesn't help that he has more resources and knowledge too."

"Knowledge?"

Danny shrugged. "The ghostly kind. He knows more about being a halfa; I'm still figuring out a lot of stuff. Also, knows more about the Ghost Zone in general, along with the ghosts in it."

"The more I hear about this guy, the more I really don't like him," I said coolly but I couldn't stop the building anger I was feeling from showing in my voice.

He smirked at me, eyes becoming alight. Right when he was about to say something, my phone rang again. It was another message from Tucker; this time the message just said: Sam?

I rolled my eyes but began to reply. "I'm just going to tell him that you had a ghost fight and stopped by to tell me you won't be able to tonight. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, and say we can probably hang out tomorrow," Danny said from behind me.

I looked up from my phone to see him peering over my shoulder from where I was standing.

I cut my eyes at him, smirking. "Aw, you miss your little friend?"

"Well," he said, grasping both my upper arms and spinning me around so I was facing him, making me have to look directly up at him to see his face, "I don't really have a lot of friends, I'm sure you've noticed, so I probably should treat the ones I have right. I heard frequent appearances is one of the requirements."

"Well I think you're doing a pretty good job with me," I smiled.

He smiled back confidently. "Sam, we both know you're not exactly one of my friends."

"Yeah," I said. "I just wanted to hear you say it."

"You know, I'm pretty sure that's manipulation," he said with a cheeky smirk on his face. Not seeming to mind the 'manipulation' at all.

"Hm, I can think up of some other ways to manipulate you," I said, looking at his lips, then back at his blue eyes, which were staring at me. I could feel his gaze on me the whole time as if it was a presence.

"You really are an evil mastermind." He tried to pull off a frightened look, but it was more comical than convincing.

I grinned, parting from his hands. "Come on, little hero," I said, walking backwards towards his bed, looking at him the whole time, trying to look menacing, "follow me if you dare."

* * *

**A/N: Yay! I finished the chapter! Well, hope you guys like it, oh and in the last chapter, I wanted to correct something. I wrote that his eyes glowed green when Vlad was mentioned but I just realized that his eyes can't glow green because the Plasmius Maximus was used on him. So, yeah, I need to fix that mistake haha.**


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